


What's Yours is Mine

by ghostlace



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Dean has a one night stand with Seth, Dean starts a rivalry, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, Finn is a sweetie who just wants to see his friends happy, I'll add more tags as i go probably - Freeform, Implied Relationships, Kevin Owens - Roster dad, M/M, Polyamory, Seth and Roman are both in love but cant admit it, Seth hates his guts, Seth is needy and a drama queen, Thank god for Roman, but he loves him, eventually, kevin and sami are also here, theyre tryin their best, well for sami and kev at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-04-03 21:16:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 69,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14004933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlace/pseuds/ghostlace
Summary: Seth Rollins is in love with his best friend Roman Reigns, not that he can admit it. Roman also happens to be head over heels for Seth but of course he doesn't want to ruin it either. That is until Dean Ambrose gets signed and turns both of their lives around.God, Seth hates Ambrose.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've just got into wrestling so of course i fell in love with the Shield and like... the whole RAW women's roster so this was the outcome of that first love.

Seth pressed his hands tightly against his forehead. It hurt like hell, his whole body did. Not in the way that wrestling left him, the warm sore, but in the “You fucked something up bad, Rollins” way. Bleary eyed he sat up in the overly warm hotel bed, reaching for his phone. 7 am and a couple of messages screamed from a bright phone screen. He hissed in frustration at himself, at the sting of his eyes at the light’s intrusion. He hadn’t wrestled yesterday, in fact, he’d gone out with the guys for a couple of drinks, played some pool and danced for a bit, nothing amazingly unusual. So why on earth did his whole fucking body scream at him like he’d run a marathon.

He did a small check of his body, neck to shoulders to tense stomach to thighs to where ever he could smooth his hands gently in the half light. All in one piece. Mostly. He flinched slightly when he touched his wrists. He reached for the lamp on the bedside table to examine them. Purpling bruises stained his wrists. He cursed at himself in the dimly lit room. He hauled himself out of bed, groping for the room light. He flicked it on, crossing to the mirror.

Seth Rollins looked fucked up. Good fucked up, he would later decide. Red hickeys covering most of his thighs, bloody half-moons on his shoulders, scratches on his chest and he wouldn’t hesitate to say his back would be covered in similar. He reached for the pair of pyjama pants he must have pulled on before he passed out and confirmed his suspicions. Bruises to match his wrists on his hips. He growled slightly under his breath as he examined the marks, too big and well placed to be feminine, not that he expected wasted Seth to ever go for a girl. He seemed to have had a hell of a night. Not the greatest way to show up for a match however. Satisfied, he adjusted his pants to rest higher on his hips before going to his phone to check his messages. He threw himself down the bed, pulling his phone from the charger and rolling onto his stomach. He picked up his glasses, hoping to avoid squinting like an idiot at the screen.

Missed calls from his ever present brother Roman, messages from Finn and a few of from a couple of others. He couldn’t be fucked to scroll any further on his notification bar. Say what you wanted about in ring feuds but in reality they were mostly just a family, a family who seemed very confused as to where Seth had disappeared off to.

Reigns was a good place to start. It was early, anyone else wouldn’t be up.

“Seth?” came the slow calming voice of his brother from the phone, it was almost surround sound as he echoed in Seth’s head “Where are you?”

“Yeah I’m here, Roman, the hotel I mean” Oh he sounded horrible in comparison to Roman’s honeyed tones. He almost caught Roman laugh as he croaked out his sentence “My room I think, I’m… uh…”

He heard his brother laugh then, properly and full bodied “You had a good night then Uce?”

“I would say yes if I knew who it fuckin was”

“He didn’t stay?”

“How did you know he’s a he?” Seth sounded defensive, earning another Reigns laugh. It wasn’t a big deal it was just weird, he hadn’t ever told Roman what he was into really, though his brother could easily guess after what they'd shared together. 

“Lucky guess” Roman said, Seth started to interject about how that was dumb, but Roman bowled through him “Nah, One of the girls saw you leaving with someone, uh must have been Alexa I think, can’t remember I was doing shots with the Usos and Finn”

Now it was Seth’s turn to laugh. Roman didn’t press further, promising to meet him in the lobby in 20 for a brief bit of breakfast then training. He ended the call, feeling a little more content. Still didn’t solve who he had taken to bed. He swallowed slightly, as he thought about it. It made him panic to linger on it. His mind raced in a way he hated as it caught up with him. Possible STDs, muscle ache, marks from the night, the match tonight? He needed to chill.

He dropped his phone down as he pulled himself up to get dressed. No need to think like that, if he still felt shitty later he’d talk to Roman. He rummaged through his back to find some painkillers which he swallowed back. He dressed then, loose fitting Shirt, underwear, slightly worn skinny jeans, comfortable and figure swallowing to hid himself a little. He shoved his worn pants into his bag and lifted his gym bag onto the bed. Then he saw it, the note scrawled on shitty hotel paper on the bedside table. He gingerly lifted it to read, peering at it. 

‘Thanks Sethie baybe lets do it again some time x”

He grinned slightly despite himself, bad spelling, grammar and scrawling handwriting but still a nice hungover thought from his mysterious partner. No number. He chewed his lip, frowning. With a slight shudder he came to the realisation that he’d probably know him then. Or forgot.  
He dropped the note on his lap, swallowing. Fine, it’d be fine. Still, the note made him feel warm inside. He considered throwing it out for a second before deciding against it. He tucked it into his jean pocket, it made him feel sentimental in a way that he hadn’t felt for a long time.

Seth lifted a nondescript black hoodie from floor. Not his. He frowned slightly, before pulling it on. It smelt faintly of sweat, beer and cigarettes but there was a tinge of blood too. It was however, comfy and something about the scent made him have that warm feeling over again. Maybe it would help him identify the guy when he comes looking for his hoodie.

*

The floor and elevator was empty as he made his way to the lobby. There, Roman was clutching two coffees and shot Seth a winning smile before narrowing his eyes and thrusting a cup towards Seth.

“That’s not yours, uce”

Of course, Roman was far too familiar with Seth’s touring clothes. His only hoodie was some old band one he’d been wearing for the last 5 years and this one wasn’t it. Seth rolled his eyes and accepted the cup. He clutched it close to himself as Roman stalked around him, looking like he was scenting the hoodie.

“Fuck off Roman, don’t sniff me” Seth laughed.

“Well I shouldn’t have, you haven’t showered, gross, and that hoodie… is just as gross”

“Oh Rome, you’re far too dramatic, we’re going to be a mess after training anyway, I’ll shower then if makes you happy”

“Rollins I will hold you under the shower if it stops you smelling like that” He grinned at his younger friend who rolled his eyes in response.

“Are you my brother or my mom?”

Roman didn’t dignify that with a response and shook his head. Seth grinned and followed, falling into step beside him. They ended up at some coffee place, the same one Roman had bought the coffee from. Sitting in a booth, Seth pulled the note out to pass to Reigns who raised his eyebrows.

“Drunk, left in a hurry and no number. Either they know you or you’re not as good in bed as you think” Roman commented flatly as he scanned the note, turning it over in his big hands. Seth went red with a slight indignation. Then Roman grinned and Seth felt the slight blush grow stronger. They teased each other mercilessly, this was just Roman trying to catch Seth out. “Kidding, most of the rumours say you’re okay in bed and I tend to agree”

Seth laughed “Same to you big guy”

“Well, you know they don’t call me big guy for no reason”

Seth faked disgust into his bagel, making Roman break out in rapturous laughter that drew the attention of most customers. Seth ducked his head to avoid eyes, his hair hanging over his face but still chuckled gently. It was always like this, Roman and him. Comfortable and felt just like home. Seth had a special place in his heart for Roman Reigns, his brother and best friend. When breakfast was finished, they made their way to the gym that was rented for the wrestlers for the next few days.

*

His works went like it always did: Run, weights, practice moves with Roman, cooldown. Unless there was a CrossFit class, in that case it would be impossible to drag him to do anything else. It went like this usually until halfway through his cooldown he was tackled by a warm mass that was screaming viciously at him. He hit the ground carefully, missing what could have been a bad impact on his shoulder. The person had hit the tackle well and hit the floor lightly. The weight was dragged off him by someone and Seth started backwards. Dean Ambrose, new signing, was being restrained by Reigns who had his arms hooked under the man’s armpits as he kicked and clawed towards Seth.

“You! Ambrose? What do you think you’re doing?” Seth hissed as he rolled up onto his knees. Then he caught sight of the cameras. A promo. Dean was laughing now, right in Seth’s face. Roman was pulling him back.

“Get your attack dog off me Rollins and face me!” Dean taunted from Roman’s arms. Roman let go of him and pushed him towards Seth who was more than ready to grab the newest member of the roster by the hair and slam him against the mirrors. He almost let out a satisfied groan at the whine Dean lets out under his breath.

“The big dog isn’t mine, he’s my brother, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of us” Seth said, loud enough for the camera to catch. He let go of Dean who slumped slightly but looked up with a satisfied grin. The camera crew cut, Seth was staring at Dean’s chest heaving like he’d just run a marathon, Roman rested his hand on his brother’s shoulder. The camera crew withdrew and Dean straightened up with a smirk, holding out a hand to shake.

“Cmon Sethie, shake like a good boy” 

Seth ignored his childish attempt to get under his skin, and actually took Dean’s hand. It was a tight grip, no movement. The two stared each other down, until finally Seth let go.

“It’s Seth. Not Sethie, maybe you missed my name on the big screens”

“Dean Ambrose, I’ll call you what I want, baby.”

Roman hooked an arm around Seth before the young man could swing, throwing him over his shoulder and throwing him into the small ring set up for practice “Breathe, Uce” He said quietly to the prone Seth who lay on the mat breathing heavily. Seth nodded.

“Nice to have big daddy Roman to save your ass huh Rollins?” came the venomous voice of Ambrose, rough and deep in a way that grated on Rollins. It spurred Seth to sit up, anger practically radiating from him. Roman held up a hand, and Seth fell back dejectedly and shutting his eyes. Roman turned calmly towards Dean.

“Ambrose, I’m not his protector nor his attack dog, I’m stopping you from having Seth scratching your eyes out” Reigns said, his voice steady and deep. Rollins searched for the word to describe his brothers tone. ‘Commanding’ supplied Seth’s inner voice helpfully. Dean laughed then, his spite and anger turning to amusement. He pushed past Roman towards the ring, rolling in beside Seth. He crouched beside the prone Rollins who still had his eyes shut tight, aware of the man beside him. Dean grinned as he reached down to touch Seth’s hair. “Leave him alone, Ambrose” Roman warned but Dean laughed, even so, he withdrew his hand.

Dean got to his feet, pacing the ring. Finally, Seth sat up, watching the messy auburn haired man stalk round him.  
“Okay sweetheart so here’s the deal, we feud, have a few matches, I win, you look defeated and all pouty for the crowd and then I move onto bigger and better people”

“Yeah sure Ambrose, that’s great an’ all, but if you think you’re a winner you have another thing coming”  
Dean stopped and turned to face Seth. “Oh honey, I’m trying to be nice but have it your way” Something about him made Seth feel completely off kilter and sparky. Fuck this guy.

“Just let me finish my workout Ambrose” Dean came real close then, crouching next to Seth who balled his fists. He smirked at the young man who felt on like he was on fire as Dean gently ruffled his hair. Seth turned bright red, snapping out of it and rolling away from Ambrose who laughed maniacally at his reaction. “Fuck off”

“Whatever you say, baby boy”

*

Seth rolled out the ring, grabbing Roman. He stormed out his entire face on fire. Roman padded leisurely beside him, watching his reaction as they headed to the locker room. He grabbed his bag, making his way into the locker room and stripping his gym gear off. He grabbed his towel, his shower stuff wrapped inside. He threw himself into the showers slamming his cubicle door and unwrapping shampoo and hanging the towel on the hook. He turned on the water, pressing his face against the cooling tiles. He was burning up from the inside. Dean Ambrose had ruined his practice. He started to cool off. He finally un-tensed, then it hit him. No wonder Dean had grinned like that. He had pressed Dean against the mirror smelling of sweat and sex, probably some shitty kink thing for Ambrose. Seth liked wrestling as much as the next guy but It didn’t get him hot under the collar like some.

He scrubbed his hair, massaging his scalp with the shampoo he had wrapped carefully in his towel after the one time he managed to have one burst in his bag and ruin his kit. He forgot his shower gel as was usual for Seth and waited patiently under the water for a small knock at the cubical door. Big hands slid a bottle under the door. Roman to the rescue, he knows Seth too well now, whenever they don’t book a room together he always forgets something. He hums his thanks before scooping up the bottle. He knew Roman would be grinning as the lock on the other shower clicked and the water started to run. He washed up quick, sliding the bottle under and watching it be lifted up. He rinsed himself off, grabbing the towel he had slung on the door.

Seth dried himself off as best he could, wrapping the towel around his waist. He picked up his shampoo and made his way to his bag. He started hauling on his clothes, jeans sticking to slightly wet thighs. He groaned and sat down on the bench to make a better attempt at sliding them up. Finally, jeans on he turned to pick up his shirt when the door to the room opened. Seth turned in response before noting who it was and turning away. Ambrose strolled in looking sweaty and maybe more than a little pissed. Seth watched with slight interest as the man pulled off his shirt revealing muscle and small red marks criss-crossing his body. Seth almost laughed, but muffled it against his arm, passing it off as yawn. Dean and crossed to his bag before noticing Seth. He flashed him a smirk and Seth’s lips twitched. The smirk was more than off-putting.

“A’right Seth?” Dean asked casually keeping eye contact with Rollins as he stretched out, showing off. Embarrassing. He was attempting to psych him out he supposed. Seth frowned and examined him quickly. Before shaking his head and tuning away.

“Ambrose” He said curtly. Dean faked a hurt gasp before turning his attention to stripping. Rollins turned away, more for his benefit than Dean’s, feigning rummaging through his bag much to the amusement of Ambrose who laughed slightly. Seth huffed his displeasure before picking up his new… well new to him, hoodie and pulling it on. Ambrose snickered again then, but the sound of no water hitting the floor of a cubicle made him think Roman might have been cause rather than Seth’s slightly red face.

Roman came in beside him, blocking Dean’s view. He frowned slightly as he cast a look over to the man at the other side of the room.  
“S’alright big man, jeeze, I’m playing nice. Fuck if looks could kill”

He sighed and turned to Seth who looked upwards at him. Roman raised his eyebrows as he saw the younger man had settled down on the bench beside his bag, playing with his slightly long sleeves. Seth was leaner than Roman, leaner than Ambrose probably, but the young man packed a punch and his plans? God, Roman could listen to Seth strategize for hours. His little brother was the master behind most of his stunts.

“Worked out who it was yet?” Seth asked, interrupting the big man’s thoughts. Roman shook his head, he’d already questioned most of the guys before Seth had got up and had pretty much worked out what had happened between him disappearing and calling him. He had been worried at first but it was Seth, boy could weasel his way and out of anything. Seth let go of the sleeves, sinking hopelessly into the hoodie. 

“Hung up on him, uce?” questioned Roman quietly. That earned him a precious Rollins smile. That was a ‘yeah duh, Roman’, as far as he was concerned.

“I’m right here!” Called Ambrose cockily as he strolled past them to the showers.

“Not you, asshole” Muttered Seth. Roman patted his brother’s head gently. Seth lent into his hand. The hand curled into his hair softly before Roman pulled away to finish getting ready.

When he was sure Ambrose wasn’t listening he spoke up. “Did you know?” Roman nodded slightly “Rome, why didn’t you say he was gonna jump me?” He knew already, probably sworn to secrecy or something.

The bigger man stayed quiet, giving Seth a look before turning away. Roman pulled his shirt on before packing his bag up. “They like you havin’ genuine reactions, say you… speak better I guess, more from the heart. Had to keep it all quiet, besides I only got it out of someone this morning” Seth almost growled, teeth bared slightly. Roman looked taken aback for a second before smiling “And you gave ‘em one, nice landing as well, and the mirror almost broke under him” That managed to pick up Seth’s mood. 

*

Seth clambered to his feet hoisting his bag onto his shoulder. Roman suggested lunch as he hoisted his own up to mirror his brother. Seth gave a noise of agreement. Training for a few hours usually took it out of him but he felt pretty energised. Usually he would have said no, let Roman drag him some place and fall asleep on the chair, but today felt different.

“Lunch? Sounds fun, I’m in! You’re paying though Sethie, daddy doesn’t have his wallet” Ambrose cooed as he stepped beside Roman. He had his towel slung low over his hips Seth observed with a slight scowl, like he was doing it on purpose. “Eyes up here sweetheart” Dean hissed at Seth who went bright red, meeting Ambrose’s eyes before looking over at Roman who shrugged.

“He’s not- “

“Sure you can tag along” Roman said, shooting a glare at Seth. What the fuck was Roman playing at? Dean snorted, in a told-ya-so way almost like Roman had proved something to him. Seth glared back at Roman who let his lips tilt upwards into a smile. Seth wasn’t mad, just confused. Roman placed a hand on Seth’s shoulders and propelled him out the room to protests and huffy anger. He murmured a ‘see you outside’ to Dean.  
Roman let go of his shoulder and pushed him gently against the wall across from the door. He looked like he was going to scold a naughty kid. Seth folded his arms. Oh yeah now that was childish. He dropped them again, instead drawing his hands up into his sleeves. Roman sighed, his brother looked far smaller like this, pouty and resigned.

“You’re going to be spending a lot of time together, Uce”

“He bugs me”

“Not hard to bug you, get used to it. Seems to be his thing”

“He’s doing it to psych me out, Ro!”

“Exactly, you’d do the same, you do _do_ the same”

“Not like that”

“You’re just high strung because your date didn’t stay, and now we’re getting it”

“No!”

That was true, clearly. Roman sighed and wrapped an arm around the shoulders of Seth who looked up at him sourly. His expression softened however when Roman pulled him against his chest, tangling a hand in his hair as a comfort. “C’mon Seth, just do it this once. You’re going to make appearance after appearance with him you might as well try to be friends off stage” Seth couldn’t not agree, Roman was right, just… Dean seemed to be getting under his skin. Roman let him go, letting him straighten up. He rummaged in this pockets for a band to tie back Seth’s hair for him. Seth turned to let his brother pin it up. “Plus, you should see the way you looked at him back there Seth, that was not PG-Roman. My soul ascended while you were doing that stare at his dick”

“What stare?” He said with a grin. Seth laughed as Roman stepped away and fake wretched, rolling his eyes. “Yeah that’s what that was, not pure unadulterated loathing”

“Big words man, need-ta tone it down for me but I got the memo” Came the mocking voice of Dean. He was dressed now, leaning against the wall opposite the two. Seth and Roman didn’t question how much he’d seen or heard “So who’s paying? ‘Cause I actually haven’t got my wallet”

Oh he was rude. Roman however chatted amicably away to Dean as they walked. Not to the café they had ate at before, instead some diner he’d seen on the way into town. Seth glowered at the two who seemed to be getting on well. Ambrose noticed and gave him a small smirk so instead he focused in on his shoes as they walked. Every now and again, Roman would ask Seth something and he’d be forced to answer, only to be teased mercilessly by Ambrose. Then when Dean asked a question, he flat out ignored him until Roman asked him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Roman was in awe of Seth’s childishness. The young man was acting like a spoilt teenager. As they finally made it into the diner, Roman squeezed the shoulder of his brother softly. They piled into a table of four and Seth whipped out his phone, pressing in his earbuds as he scanned the menu. He wasn’t going to play music, he just wanted Dean to think that and not ask him stupid questions.

“So that’s the golden boy, huh?” Asked Dean, head cocked to one side as he observed Seth. His tongue dragged across his lower lip. Seth ducked his head at the action turning to his phone with renewed interest. Roman laughed a little.

“He’s something else entirely, you’d be surprised how good he is” Roman’s half-heard praise made Seth’s cheeks burn

“Yeah, something else alright” Dean dropped his eyes towards the table for a second. Before grinning “You two are fuckin’, right? You’re dating? No?” Straight to the personal. Seth felt like he was going to fall out his chair, this couldn’t be a real conversation. In comparison, Roman’s face was a mask as he shook his head slowly. Ambrose frowned, but that was quickly replaced by a grin “Not anything? Shame, he’s a pretty boy Reigns”

They weren’t… really having sex and certainly weren’t in a relationship, least not in Seth’s mind. They were two best friends, friends who just so happened to get off on the same things and that just worked out spectacularly. Roman was great, no denying that he was one of the best Seth had ever messed about with, but Roman didn’t need Seth. Roman could have anyone and Seth was so acutely aware of that fact. So that was their arrangement. There was no shame between them, they were friends and it wasn’t a huge deal. ‘Actually’ Seth’s mind corrected ‘You’re definitely fucking’.

“Yeah, he’s the resident pretty boy, a shame he’s got all that annoying attitude” Roman laughed and ruffled Seth’s hair before pulling an earbud out “Least try to make it look like you’re listening to music rather than just staring at your lockscreen” Roman muttered quietly with a small smile.

*

They ordered. Dean took the liberty of buying the most disgustingly greasy thing on the menu while Seth went for “Just a cheeseburger please, salad, no fries”. Roman ordered the same, but definitely with fries. Seth wouldn’t even usually order something like that, he would prefer to be pre-portioning his ingredients and balancing his meal perfectly. He was a freak over food. But Roman was there and that was enough to give him confidence to eat something he didn’t check the calories of 9 times over. Roman had once suggested it was OCD or an eating problem and Seth pitched a fit. He never mentioned it again. But then again, Roman had started cooking a lot for Seth now and Seth didn’t obsessively watch what he was eating as much. 

Roman stood up and motioned towards the toilet with a shrug. Seth nodded and rested his face in his hands, watching him as he headed away. He didn’t notice Dean changing sides of the table until he plopped down beside him.

“Stop ignoring me”

Seth groaned and dropped his head onto the table. 

“Fuck off, Ambrose, I’ll ignore you if I want to” He spat, refusing to look up.

Dean laughed then, a proper laugh. Not the maniacal one from when he was taunting and teasing but a genuine one that warmed Seth from his stomach out. Horrifying.

“You wish Rollins, besides, now you’re talking to me and I can’t pass that up”

He was. Seth finally sat up and looked at Dean properly, annoyance glinting in his eye. It was his eyes that caught him first. Blue, piercing, staring straight into Seth who took this as a challenge to stare back. His auburn hair lay messy across his forehead, and a similarly scruffy beard framed the lower half of his face. He was the kind of guy that Seth would go for. Everything about him screamed fun and risk taking, and for that, he hated Ambrose with every fibre of his being. Dean’s lips were moving but Seth was a little too caught up in their shape and the way his tongue darted out every so often. God he would be nice to kiss. 

At that thought, Rollins wished he could remove whatever part of his brain worked on attraction. His brain was clearly not playing nice.

“Seth?”

“Yeah, what?”

“You okay?”

“Why?”

“Roman’s been in there like... 10 minutes”

“Probably getting kidnapped or something’ He answered matter-of-factly.

“Seth! Poor Roman!” Dean looked horrified for a moment. It was replaced by a grin. Horrible at keeping a straight face Seth noted for later.

“What? I know Roman, he’s fine.”

“You… yeah I guess you’re right”

“Or he’s fixing his hair” Seth stated flatly as the Waitress finally showed up with their food.

“He does that?” Dean questioned with a small smile.

“Religiously” Confirmed Seth sending Dean into hysterics. He almost smiled. But instead he stood up and motioned to the bathroom. “Gonna get him”

*

He pushed past Dean’s seat, thanking whatever deity was looking out for him that his dining partner didn’t follow. He pressed his shoulder against the door to open it. Roman was standing in front of the mirror, fussing his hair. He’d pulled it out of its tight bun. Seth groaned and made his way over, running his hand through his own hair. Roman noticed him and held out an arm. Seth wrapped himself up in it. Roman’s spare hand was brushing out the looks locks, trying to spruce them up.

“Are you trying to look nice for me or Dean?” Seth questioned. The arm around him stiffened “You barely know him Roman” He teased before smiling “I’m kidding, but he is a dick. I’m not kidding about that” He shrugged, studying the reflection of the two in the mirror. Roman sighed and brushed his fingers up and down Seth’s side before turning to press a kiss onto his friend’s forehead. It was soft, promising more for Seth if he could just stop acting like a brat. Seth smiled, placated by the action.

“Don’t be silly Seth, he’s a nice guy” Roman’s lips were so close to his skin that every time he spoke, he dusted kisses close to Seth’s hair line. His stomach turned, it felt so… nice. “And besides we have to work with him it seems, we’ll work it out together. You don’t like him anyway so I’ll need to keep an eye on you two” True. Ambrose was an asshole and the last person Seth wanted near him.

“I’m playing nice, but he’s grating on me”

“Good boy, keep it up” 

Seth burned a bright red, Roman knew just how to make him tick. He and Roman headed back to the table. Dean had returned to his previous seat. If Dean was suspicious about their brief stint together in the bathroom, he kept his mouth shut. They ate in comfortable silence. Dean wolfing down bacon and egg and fries and whatever else was on the plate. Seth checked his phone when he was done, half past one, not bad time. “Ro’, I’m gonna head back to my room and crash before we head out” Seth was full and felt too sluggish.

“I’ll come, Uce, I need a nap too… Finn’s still in my room” Roman said, giving Seth a warm smile. Roman slid his phone across to Seth who unlocked it and checked his texts. Pictures from Finn in places in Roman’s room, and a couple of texts asking where various things were. “Not leaving till I make him either” Seth laughed and handed the phone back. Ambrose narrowed his eyes. Seth shot him a challenging look. Maybe he was just fucking dumb. That would be easier.

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys when we’re leaving, I need to do a bit more uh training” Dean shrugged as he stood “I’ll pay you back when I get my pay check. Thanks Roman, Fuck you Seth!” Dean grinned. 

Roman grabbed Seth’s arm to stop him from flying at Dean. Just when Seth thought the man could maybe be okay. He strolled away from the table. Roman and Seth rooted around in their wallets not only for the money for the meal but a generous tip for the waitress for putting up with Dean swearing during the afternoon rush.

*

Seth and Roman finally paid, thanked the waitress and left. Seth was hugging the hoodie tighter around him now, it was safe. Roman frowned for a second as he caught a whiff of the smell again. Familiar weirdly. Seth was too caught up in his own world, thinking. He liked Roman, a lot. Roman was good and calming and usually what Seth needed. This hoodie’s owner was good in a similar way, the scent reminded him of brief flashes of moments from the night before. Both grinding against each other desperately and the other man commanding Seth in a way that was so safe. Seth let out a low sigh through his teeth. Taking it as Seth feeling a chill, Roman wrapped an arm around him, comforting and protective against the non-existent wind.

The two made it to the hotel and up to Seth’s room. Roman was always careful when it came to walking through hotels. The first night there he had to detail who was in the room next door (Ziggler), who was across (It was meant to be Finn, though he was probably still in Roman’s room. Seth didn’t need to ask) and who was at the other side (Empty as far as he could tell) to Roman before he was allowed to crawl into the bigger man’s lap. It was a ritual the first night anywhere. Control and also risk assessment in one and Seth liked doing it with Roman.

Roman helped him to the bed and carefully undressed Seth. The hoodie went first. Some part of Roman was starting to guess at its origins. Smokey and more familiar. Then shirt. And then there was Seth, skin marred with pretty marks that Roman could just… stare at. He was art incarnate and always had been. He was almost jealous of Seth’s midnight rendezvous but Roman didn’t get jealous, he understood the arrangement. Seth couldn’t help but redden and smile at his friend’s face as he gazed at his torso with a face akin to reverence. 

“How are you going to cover that up tonight?” Joked Roman as he set his big hands on Seth’s waist, earning him a soft ‘mpf’ from Seth. He liked the pressure Roman provided as a grounding mechanism, no matter where they were. Wrapped around his waist was a good start though.  
“Shirt?” suggested Seth. Roman smiled slightly and nodded before helping him out of his jeans and sneakers. Roman gently took Seth’s glasses from his face, setting them on the nightstand. He sighed and lay back on the bed, wiggling back a little so Roman could join him when he undressed. He closed his eyes and didn’t open them again till the bed shifted and he felt himself tucked against a broad chest. Roman gently undid the bun he had tied up for Seth, running his fingers through his friend’s loose soft hair. This was nice, just the two together in the quiet. If Seth listened carefully enough he could hear Roman’s heart beating steadily.

*

Soon, Seth was softly snoring on Roman’s chest, which Roman found endlessly endearing. When Seth wasn’t moping around or whining and complaining he was actually adorable, the only issue was he was usually asleep when he wasn’t complaining. Roman liked his whining though, Roman liked nearly everything about Seth.

It was Seth’s breathing that finally sent Roman to sleep. When he woke up, Seth was nearly lying on top of him sprawled out. Roman reached for his jacket on the floor, lifting his phone to check the time. It was late afternoon, an hour or two before they had to leave for the venue. Seth made a small noise when Roman moved and he opened his eyes slowly.

“Still… here?” He asked, voice dropped low with sleep. Roman gently kissed Seth’s forehead. He always expected Roman to be gone when they did things like this, after all, this wasn’t really part of the agreement. It felt so normal and loving, and Roman and Seth couldn’t afford to be either of those things some times. Seth rolled off the bigger man and onto his stomach, shooting Roman a soft smile.

“Course I’m still here Uce, why? Kicking me out” Roman’s deep voice always did something to Seth that made him go bright red and Roman enjoyed taking advantage of that fact. The young man shook his head in response to his question, he never wanted to get rid of Roman really. He reached out to place a hand on the small of Seth’s back. The skin below Roman’s hand was soft and warm to the touch. It was second nature to gently knead the skin under his hand, watching Seth bliss out for a moment “Good boy” That made Seth’s stomach clench. Roman bowled right through it “Ready for your match tonight?”

“Yeah, should be ea- good, not easy, it’s Sami, he’ll give me a good match” Seth corrected with his face half in the pillow. He didn’t mean to say an easy match, he meant it more like he’d have fun. Roman squeezed his ass with one hand and Seth squeaked slightly. He hadn’t expected that.  
“Sami’s always good fun, though…” Roman dropped his voice lower and leaned in to Seth’s ear. “Don’t have all the fun without me” Seth nodded quickly. The words promised him something to look forward to. Roman laughed and leaned back, taking his hands away from Seth. The bed shifted as the man stood up. Roman was getting dressed, much to Seth’s disappointment. He did enjoy having a half naked Roman around his hotel room, for purely wholesome reasons of course.

By the time Roman left, Seth was properly awake. He finally got up to get dressed again, this time when he stopped by the mirror he was impressed by the marks on him. Roman liked them too, he could tell from his expression. He sighed at himself and pulled on his shirt before moving to pick up the hoodie. He had to know who it was; it was going to drive him fucking crazy. He lifted it to his face, burying his nose in the soft fabric. Some of the smell was starting to collide with Seth’s own, then there was a Roman-ish scent pressed onto it too. It smelt like home to Seth, it was a stupid thought, but it was just so comforting.

He shook himself and shoved it on his bed. He couldn’t wear it tonight to the venue, someone would notice that it, one: wasn’t his, or two: would notice it was theirs and confront Seth in front of everyone he tried so hard to impress. Yeah fuck that. He searched his floor for his hoodie, groaning when it came up fruitless. He phoned Roman who promised he didn’t have it, even going so far as to get Finn to check for it too. Finn promised he’d bring over one of his, they were closer in size than him and Roman though there was something appealing to Seth about being cradled in Roman’s clothes. Seth thanked Finn, telling him to bring it when they met up to go to the car.

He made himself something light to eat with what he had picked up at the small store half a block away. It was a ritual, another one that was food related of course. But it wasn’t as regimented as he was with proper meals. It was fast and to the point and purely for energy to keep him going over the next 6 hours.

*

Finally, he plopped down on the bed, switched on the TV and tucked in. It was some game show Seth had started watching on the road. When they had down time and weren’t out, Seth had taken to watching it, trying to get as many answers right as he could. He’d watched it with most of the guys, it became a competition. Next door he could hear Ziggler’s shouts of annoyance every time there was a hard question. Seth counted the number of questions he’d got wrong, planning to rub Ziggler’s face in it later if he was being a dick.

Eventually he heard a knock on his door.

“It’s Finn!” called a slightly lilting Irish voice. 

“And it’s open” Seth called back. Finn stepped into the room like it was his own. He was handsome, Seth had decided when he first saw him, though not his type really though. He was friendly to pretty much everyone, funny, loyal and pretty reasonable. He was the kind of guy your parents wanted you to date, Seth had guessed. If he hadn’t been so damn annoying.

Finn threw a hoodie at him high speed. Seth caught it against his chest and unfurled it lazily to check it wasn’t anything embarrassing like Finn’s merch. He’d done that before, with Roman’s shirts no less. It had earned him plenty of ribbing from his friends. He smoothed it out to check the design.

It wasn’t.

It was his.

*

Within seconds he was on his feet, defensive as he surveyed Finn. “Where did you find my hoodie” Seth drew himself up to his full height, leaning forward with a threatening glare. Finn took a step back against the door, holding up his hands innocently. If he’d had sex with Finn he was going to rip him verbally to shreds, Finn was meant to make good decisions.

“Woah there, Seth, jesus, wrong side of the bed, man? Bad breakfast?” He tried to lighten the mood, raising his eyebrows as Seth kept advancing with a stormy look. He held up the hoodie.

“Where. Was. It. Then?”

“It was on my room door! I saw it like two seconds ago, swear I’m just back from Rome’s room! Sorry man!”

He seemed honest, apologetic even. Seth softened, Finn was a shitty liar so clearly he was being honest. “Thanks man” Seth mumbled, letting his arm drop to his side. Finn looked relieved at not having an angry Rollins launch at him. He rubbed his hoodie softly in his arms, thinking, before smiling in apology at Finn.

“No problem, I should have warned you first. Roman told me ‘bout your night” he grinned and winked. Seth rolled his eyes. Finn coughed before lowering his voice and slipping into an awful impression of Reigns “You shoulda seen him Finn, he’s all marked up like he’s been though the wars, hot too” His Irish accent had broken through on the last few words and he began to laugh. Seth laughed too, knowing that Finn was embellishing his story as much as possible to embarrass Seth. Finn grinned and opened the door. “See you in the lobby!” Seth nodded in response.

When Finn was gone he examined his hoodie, not worse for wear, in fact, it was in the exact condition he left it. He gave the material a good sniff. Smelled faintly like the other one, like someone had slept in it. He smiled before tugging it over his head. He crossed to his bag, shoving a couple of things he’d need for the night. He threw his water bottle and painkillers in, followed by his contacts. His eyes alighted on the hoodie. Gingerly he lifted it before reaching for a pad and pen. He scribbled his number down on it with a smiley face. He stuffed it in the pocket and shoving it in his bag. He’d leave it out in the locker room. If no one claimed it, it was his.


	3. Chapter 3

He picked up his phone and headphones, tossing them into the bag too. He thought briefly about actually wrestling, but that wasn’t really what the nervous ball of energy in his stomach meant. It was screaming about the number in the pocket, the fact his hoodie was back, Roman! Oh god Roman! Seth was practically jumping now, all energy and rawness. He needed tonight.

He barrelled out the door, locking it, his bag slung haphazardly over his shoulder. He heard a disapproving cough behind him. He turned to face Dolph Ziggler who simply grinned and raised his eyebrows. Seth rolled his eyes in response, he was not in the mood. He held up his hands, showing seven fingers. Ziggler blanched and Seth grinned. He was usually planning right now but his mind was too full, he needed someone there to grab him and tell him to sit still. Preferably Roman Reigns. He bounced on the balls of his feet towards the elevator. He waited on a rather nonplussed Ziggler who got in beside him quietly. 

“You’re fighting Sami” He interjected into Seth’s buzzing mind. “You’re excited over that? I know you like wrestling as much as the rest of us but you don’t need to knock a guy over about it”

“Yeah, of course I’m excited! stop being an ass about it, Sami’s great and you know it!”

“Yeah, yeah we know, can’t go wrong with our Sami, but seriously… nothing else? Nothing at all?”

“Ziggler I am doing perfectly fine! I’m excited to kick some ass”

The man raised his eyebrows as they hit the lobby. Seth almost wanted to ask what he knew but that was a stupid question. Seth wasn’t quiet in bed.

*

The doors opened and there was Roman, leaning on a counter with Finn laughing next to him. A peal of laughter rung out and Seth’s eyes landed on a shabby mass next to Bálor. Ambrose. Seth clearly shivered in disgust, which Dolph picked up on immediately.

“Don’t like the new signing, Rollins?” Asked Ziggler with a shit-eating grin, 

“Hes fine, fuck off” Snapped back Seth irritably as he started jogging towards Roman. Ziggler’s attempts to get under his skin usually didn’t work but Seth felt on edge when he was around Dean “Big Dog!”

“There’s my little brother!” Roman grinned, grabbing Seth in for a hug. “How was your show?”

“Ziggler got seven wrong, not that I’m gloating” Seth said triumphantly. Roman laughed and released him. He patted his shoulder. 

Ambrose materialised at the other side of Seth and gave him a sideways smile “Sleep good, Sethie?” Seth’s expression hardened at the nickname. Finn raised his eyebrows at the interaction, meeting Roman’s gaze. Roman shrugged and attempted to continue the conversation but Dean was far more interested in Seth now. Seth however, was doing everything to be uninterested until Dean gave up 

“You’re going to have to talk to me at some point, spoiled fuckin brat” Ambrose finally spat before giving up on him and stalking away.

Finn swallowed “You guys gonna tell me what’s up with that?” He gestured off in Dean’s general direction.

“No!”

“Later.”

Roman sighed at the drama queen beside him, his jaw set with resolve. Finn threw his arms up and started moving towards the doors. Roman set his hand on the scruff of Seth’s neck and spurred him after him. Seth didn’t want a feud with Ambrose, it would spill out of control at this rate. He took a deep breath and sighed. He could plan, he could win, he could conquer. 

He climbed in the front beside Finn, Roman in the back for more room. They sat in silence for a moment before Finn started the car. Roman was humming under his breath, seemingly absentmindedly, but Seth knew it was for him.

*

Finn kept quiet while he drove, brows furrowed as he scanned the road for the right exit. Seth decided there was no real point in bringing up the promo to him, besides it wouldn’t air for a bit. They had to edit it pretty and palatable for the audience. Seth unzipped his bag to get his phone and headphones, setting them on his lap. He liked listening to music pre-event. He shoved one ear in, leaving the other one free to listen to the car around him.

Finn finally broke the tension, leaning back with a sigh as they cruised along “If any of you want to give me advice on Ambrose, now would be great” He looked in the mirror at Roman who had his eyes closed. He cracked one eye open before opening the other.

“He’s actually vicious, pretty scrappy guy overall, though I wouldn’t underestimate him, Finn” Roman advised, glancing at the back of Seth’s neck. He resisted the urge to reach forward to thread his fingers through Seth’s hair. He looked so tense. Finn nodded then gave a sideways glance to Seth who now insisted on staring fixatedly out the window. He quirked his eyebrow. Roman mouthed the name ‘Dean’ and Finn nodded slowly. Clearly the man had done something to irk the usually understanding Seth. 

Seth tried his best to look distracted, bopping his head to the music blasting in one ear. He didn’t particularly have any advice to give his friend. ‘Unless theres a mirror, in that case smash him against it’ his inner voice piped up. Seth smirked inwardly at himself.

When they finally parked, Seth was first out, breathing deeply as he lent against the car. Roman followed, squeezing his friend’s shoulder as he passed, he had to talk to someone before he could head to the locker room. Finn joined Seth against the car for a moment before they both pushed off, strolling in time across the car park.

*

The two made their way towards the locker room through one of the back doors, pushing past the crew who were out on a smoke break. Seth gave a polite nod to them as they passed, Finn grinning. Outside the locker room, Sheamus was talking to Cesaro. They gave a small wave as the two guys glanced in their direction. Cesaro motioned for Seth and Finn to join them.

“That Ambrose is really something, huh?” Sheamus raised his eyebrows and jerked his head towards the locker room “He’s been in and outta there, jumping about mad, didn’t want to let you go in without a warning”

Seth sighed and rolled his eyes “He’s like a child, I swear, he ended up at lunch with me and Roman, he’s so… irritating”

Cesaro gave Seth a knowing smile “You’ve never seen him wrestle then?”

“No, should I have?”

“Oh yeah, definitely, I saw him once” Sheamus answered. He laid a hand on Finn’s shoulder and gave him an apologetic look “Good luck, man” The two Irish men locked eyes, Finn barely suppressing a smile as Sheamus attempted a serious tone “You wouldn’t look that good in a body bag”. Finn broke, laughing before shaking off the hand. They thanked the two men for letting them know about the fun awaiting them tonight.

Seth pushed open the door. Most people were grouped up, discussing matches or just generally having relaxed conversations. Not sign of Ambrose. Seth pushed past to where he usually set up in any locker room and Finn to his corner. He threw his stuff down, sitting down beside it lightly. He pushed his other headphone and skipped a few songs before settling on something a little more upbeat. He opened his eyes to see if Roman was around but was instead greeted by Dean Ambrose crouched in front of him, staring straight into his face. Seth started back, kicking his leg out to catch Dean’s shin. The older man winced and wobbled slightly before steadying himself with a grin.  
He ripped one headphone from his ear, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” He hissed loudly, glaring at the ratty looking man. Ambrose continued to grin, cocking his head to one side. Seth was conscious of the rest of the locker room around him and lowered his voice. “What do you want?”

“Nothin’ Sethie, just checkin you hadn’t died” replied Dean, standing up. Seth let out a sigh of relief as it looked like he was going to walk away but it died in his throat as Dean threw himself down beside him. Seth was reaching his wits end with the guy. His stomach did a backflip that Seth felt horrendous about as he felt Dean gently touch his back. He knew he was burning red but didn’t exactly want to react in front of everyone or draw any attention. The touch was soft and unexpected. He looked over to meet Dean’s eyes. He still had that grin plastered on his face. “What?” challenged Dean with a voice that was far too loud for Seth’s liking. The two-toned haired man twitched before sliding his bag along the bench and following it over. Dean looked almost disappointed.

Seth tuned his attention to his bag, pulling out the hoodie and setting it down, ignoring Ambrose. If he’d actually paid attention he would have seen the grin disappear and a small genuine smile appear. He tugged off his own hoodie, chucking it in his bag. He rifled through for his ring gear and was acutely aware that he was going to have to pull off his clothes to get changed.

He swallowed as he pulled his shirt off, reaching for the shirt he usually shoved in just in case. He pulled it on quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Dean Ambrose smiling appreciatively. He coughed indignantly and saw Dean start and look away.

Dean had been caught up in his handiwork and of course Seth. He was clearly embarrassed and for a split second, Dean regretted having so much fun at Seth’s expense. But only briefly, after all Seth had looked simply adorable all marked up. Dean ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he stared. A cough from Seth was enough to realise he really was staring pointedly. He looked away before turning back to wink at Seth. He stood up and bounced back to where he’d thrown down his stuff.

Seth frowned as Dean disappeared off somewhere. He swallowed as he pulled off his jeans and pulled on the rest of his ring gear. A shadow passed behind him and a bag was flung down beside him. Roman was already pulling his shirt off by the time Seth turned.

“Was talking to Ziggler,” Roman said softly, his face unreadable. Seth frowned before nodding. “I was just asking what he was doing after this… going out for drinks with some of the guys.” Seth’s eyes widened a fraction. Roman was making sure they wouldn’t be found out. Not that it was an issue for most guys on the roster, but Roman and Seth were a whole different beast to guys just helping each other out. 

“Okay” He mumbled quietly as he sat down. Roman eyed the hoodie beside him with a tight lipped frown but didn’t question its presence. He’d tried to draw his attention from it all day. He wasn’t jealous to be exact, but he was well aware Seth was doing a lot more work than was necessary. He didn’t have to find his mystery companion and Roman had a sinking suspicion he had already found him.

He’d picked up hints of course. Everyone who was out could remember bits and pieces of Seth dancing, then grinding, then making out with a guy. They of course, told Roman everything. He was very good at listening. The black hoodie was a given, and then the hair and the eyes. 

Everything Roman had heard pointed directly at Ambrose. He had a feeling that Seth wouldn’t like that.

That was fine, he could keep it a secret.

*

Seth and Roman won their matches that night. The elation was palpable between them, sparks flying with every grin and soft smile. Seth had hugged Roman when he came in from his match, before jogging out the door for his own. Everything felt right as he burst out to his theme, even in the ring when Sami had landed a hit he didn’t mind all that much. Roman had watched with breath held, knowing he’d adjust the night’s activities to the outcome of the match. Seth would have done the same for him.

When Seth returned backstage, Roman wrapped an arm around him, grinning. Seth happily leaned into the bigger body, the two wound their way back to the locker room. It was deserted, most people had headed to the hotel or were outside signing things. Roman let go of Seth, taking advantage of the empty locker room, playfully spanking his ass as he sent him to get his stuff packed and his clothes on. Roman had already taken the opportunity to get change and pack up. Seth squeaked as he jumped before giving Roman a huge smile. Roman sat down on the bench near the door, pulling his phone out to fiddle uselessly. 

Through his eyelashes, he watched Seth strip down, taking his time to trail his eyes down every exposed aspect of his body. He watched the younger man take out his contacts before pulling on his shirt before reaching for his hoodie. Seth’s hand froze, fingers curling in to his palms as he gazed at the empty space beside his own hoodie.

“Rome, did you pack any of my stuff away?”

“No, I didn’t touch any of your stuff sweetheart. I know you like to get it yourself” Roman frowned as he pocketed his phone. He stood up, shouldering the bag and walking over to Seth’s side. Seth had a familiar smile on his face, it was his smile when a part of his plan went perfectly. Roman was intimately familiar with it. “Why, baby?”

“Hoodie’s gone” Seth said softly. He lifted his own, cradling it in his arms protectively “I left the black one out hoping he’d take it”

“And?” Roman enquired, his hand settling on the nape of his friend’s neck. Seth relaxed into the feeling.

“I left my number in the pocket Rome” He was suddenly acutely aware that Roman wouldn’t like that idea. Seth didn’t have to see his face to give it away, the tightening of the hand on the back of his neck was enough to let him know “I just… wanted to find him” The hand relaxed, Roman couldn’t be mad at his Seth. 

“I know baby, that’s okay” He said softly. He let go of Seth, helping him to put on his hoodie “There we go, ready to go meet Finn?”

Seth nodded and let Roman lead him with a hand in the small of his back. They made their way to the car where Finn was relaxing on the hood talking to someone. He waved them away when Roman and Seth approach, giving them a winning smile. He had lost against Ambrose, he didn’t know what to expect from the man and frankly he was impressed. Not that he’d say that in the presence of Seth. The man was practically itching for a fight with Ambrose.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit Sexual Content warning for this chapter plus some fluffy Rolleigns at the end!

They all climbed in the car. Finn didn’t say a word when Seth climbed in the back with Roman. He was one of the few that knew what happened behind closed doors with the two. He raised an eyebrow however when Reigns didn’t immediately open his arms for Rollins to lean into. He did know better than to question whatever was going on. Thankfully, soon Seth was wrapped up against Roman who was holding him firmly to keep all Seth’s nervous energy contained.

He hadn’t checked his phone yet. He discarded it at the bottom of his bag which Roman now had tucked at his feet. He forced himself to think about the arms wrapped around him and the slow heartbeat against his ear, there was no point dreaming about the guy when he had a closer and much more tangible Roman Reigns next to him. His stomach jolted slightly at the thought of abandoning Roman if he found out who the other guy was. He really liked Roman, a lot more than they promised each other they would. Sometimes Seth imagined telling Roman he loved him, which was a stupid idea of course, but it didn’t stop him thinking about it. He’d give a lot to wake up every night in those arms, to turn and just litter his face with soft kisses and watch as the usually hard to wake Roman opened his eyes slowly. That thought calmed his stomach. He just wanted to find out who it was, it was innocent curiosity.

*

“Rome, Seth, we’re here!” Came the chipper Irish voice in the front seat. He had his eyes on the mirror, observing the back passenger seat. Roman had shut his eyes but he certainly wasn’t sleeping and Seth was buzzing with energy but sent guilty looks every so often towards the floor. Finn didn’t want to know.

The bigger man opened his eyes slowly and retracted his arms from around Seth gently at Finn’s words. The three poured out of the car, Roman carrying both his and Seth’s bags leaving Finn to grab his own while complaining about how he lost and therefore he should have things lifted for him because he was distraught.

“If you actually carried your bags places then maybe you’d work up your strength” Seth stated matter-of-factly with a lopsided grin which showcased the gap between his front teeth. Finn reddened at the teasing, pushing Seth lightly. 

“Then what have you got to say, Mr ‘I get the Big Dog to carry my stuff for me’?” He shot back, grinning cheekily. Finn felt a hand on his shoulder.

“He had no choice in the matter” Roman said lowly, watching Finn break out loud laughter. He shook the hand from his shoulder as they walked into the lobby. It was quieter now, most people had gone straight out rather than come back and get changed. Seth walked a little in front, the spring in his step quite obvious to the two men behind him. He slammed his hand on the elevator call button, pressing it a few times to make sure it really knew that he wanted the elevator. Roman laughed as he watched his friend. “Uce, that doesn’t make it come any faster”

Seth sighed dramatically and dropped his hand. He perked up considerably when the elevator arrived, giving Finn a knowing look. “Not any faster, huh?” He asks Finn, with a grin. Finn glanced back at Roman before replying “Yeah you’re right Seth, much faster” He agreed with a childish grin.

Roman sighed, muttering that they were impossible under his breath. Seth shared a look with Finn, repressing the urge to laugh. They got in the elevator, Finn leaning on the mirrored wall at the back while Seth and Roman took up nearly the whole front. Roman seemed so much more restrained when it came to Seth than usual. Even with Finn here, he’d let Seth under his arm, against him in any way possible, but not tonight it seemed. Roman’s grip on the bags was noticeably tight to Roman. When the elevator stopped and came to their floor, the trio parted ways. Finn jogged off towards his room, eager to get in shower and a good night’s sleep before Roman and Seth kept the whole floor up.

*

Seth was fiddling with his keys, trying to get the door opened. The growing feeling of anticipation was doing nothing for his co-ordination. Finally, he managed to actually unlock the door, pushing it open with his shoulder. He heard Roman follow him and lock the door, but busied himself finding the light switch. There was a thump from Roman placing their bags down followed by the feeling of strong arms snaking around his waist. Roman held Seth there against his chest in the darkness, head buried in the still slightly sweaty hair. They stood like that for a moment before Roman pulled away. 

“You did so well out there tonight” he murmured in Seth’s ear, turning Seth to face him. Seth could feel the redness creeping up on his cheeks as Roman spoke. Praise felt good from Roman, no matter what it was about. He was gently pressed against the wall by a steady hand. He whined out Roman’s name, needy and desperate. The hand balled in the fabric of the hoodie. Seth Rollins would be the death of him. “My pretty boy” He whispered huskily into Seth’s ear before letting go of him. Seth’s legs threatened to give out beneath him “Bed.”

*

The command spurred him on though. He managed to make it onto the bed before his legs deserted him. He sat on the edge, peering into the darkened room. He could see the shadow of Roman crouched by their bags, carefully unpacking items. Seth bit his lip, how long would Roman make him wait? Roman was taking his time tonight; it was almost punishing.

“How’re you holding up sweetheart? Turn on the bedside light if you want to” Roman intoned softly as he caught sight of a tense Seth in the dark.  
Seth leaned over to turn on the light, the soft lighting bringing Roman into full view. He looked up to meet Seth’s eyes, watching his tension dissipate at the sight of Roman. Roman’s forehead creased in slight worry.

“Baby, you need to talk to me”

“I’m fine, just, I really want you Rome, please” Seth managed, feet tapping on the floor. Roman smiled, there was his Seth.

“Hold on then, baby boy, almost done”

Roman found what he was looking for, standing and crossing to the bed. He set down a small bottle of lube on the bedside table followed by a condom. Seth let out a sigh of relief. Roman wasn’t going to leave him waiting.

He tangled a hand in Seth’s hair, tugging his head back to bare his throat. The young man let out something between a moan and a gasp, music to Roman’s ears. He bent to press feather-light kisses along Seth’s jaw then down his neck. 

Seth swallowed carefully, already well aware of the growing tightness in his jeans. Roman’s teeth scraped against his Adam’s apple, eliciting a small moan. Roman knew exactly how to push Seth’s buttons. He smiled proudly and recreated the motion, this time a choked version of Roman’s name fell from his lips.

“Good boy, keep talking for me” Roman encouraged against his neck knowing that soon he wouldn’t even be able to extract his name from his lips. He pulled away and let go of Seth’s hair. Seth made a noise, a groan that ended with a ‘Reigns’. He didn’t want to wait. 

Instead, Roman cradled Seth’s face, watching the young man’s eyes flutter shut. He leant in to kiss a pliant Seth, lips moving in time with each other until Roman dragged his tongue over the other’s lower lip.

Seth stammered in his movement, giving Roman enough time to press Seth back against the bed, the kiss deepening and the man below him reddening. He slid a hand under Seth’s shirt, feeling over his stomach and up towards his chest. Seth arched up against his touch before being pressed back firmly, the warm hand burning into his skin “Mine?”

“Yours” Seth confirmed.

*

Roman growled lowly as he moved to strip his partner’s shirt off. Seth stretched out underneath him.

If Roman wanted to ruin their arrangement he would have called him beautiful, would have covered him with kisses and compliments and adoration. His stomach knotted and it took him a moment to pull himself back to the reality of Seth under him. He kissed down across his shoulders to the centre of his broad chest then to his right nipple. Teasingly, he took it into his mouth, watching through his lashes as Seth’s mouth opened slightly, soft curses spilling out. He ran his tongue over the sensitive nub under his mouth, enjoying the soft pants he managed to drag from Seth. 

Every time Seth so much as made a noise, Roman found himself looking up at him with newly adoring eyes.

He changed angle to lavish attention on the other nipple, Seth keening desperately, before Reigns pulled away. Seth reached weakly for Roman’s shirt, catching a hold of it. When he wasn’t stopped, he started to roll it up, revealing the strong muscles and heat-flushed skin under it. He gazed in wonder, sitting up slightly.

“Rome, please?” He asked softly. The answer came in the form of Roman taking his shirt off, leaving Seth starry eyed.  
He’d seen the body before him so many times but this was always different, this was his and Roman’s time. He leant up enough to mouth kisses across his stomach. 

The kisses took him towards his waistband. When Roman didn’t stop him he mouthed downwards to the bulge in Roman’s sweatpants. Roman let out a groan that Seth happily absorbed. He pressed his face flat against Roman, mouth leaving wet marks as he trailed his tongue the material. He followed down his inner thigh, face flushed until Roman stilled him with a touch to his face.

“Seth.” His name was coloured by tangible lust as he pressed his hand against Seth’s cheek. He pulled Seth away, an act that was simply criminal but Seth took it obediently. He got over stimulated so easily and Roman was usually right with when to draw the line for the moment. The tips of Roman’s fingers hooked under Seth’s waistband to tug downwards. Without much success.

Sometimes he cursed Seth’s choice of attire, but he looked so obscene now with his erection pressing at the clingy material of his skinny jeans. He crouched in front of Seth’s splayed legs, slowly peeling his jeans off. Seth wasn’t too far gone to help, though he still found it funny to see Roman struggle. He tried and failed to repress a giggle before lifting himself up off the bed to push his jeans down over his ass and thighs for Roman’s benefit. Roman looked up at Seth’s stupid smile, leaning up to kiss him softly before he worked the rest of the jeans off. 

He pulled away from the kiss to pull down Seth’s boxers, watching his cock spring free. A hand pressed Seth back onto the bed and he let out a hiss as Romans tongue slid up his length. One hand dug into his hip where the bruises had settled, causing him to flinch but it felt so undeniably good. 

The other hand found his mouth, Seth happily opened his mouth, accepting Roman’s fingers. From Roman’s vantage point, the whole scene was beyond beautiful. Seth was entirely receptive to every touch, eyes beginning to glaze over. Roman grinned as he took the head of Seth’s cock into his mouth. He felt a hand tangle in his hair, tugging encouragement.

He moved deliberately, choosing the best way to drag out those sinful moans from his partner. Seth, lost in his own world, unexpectedly thrust up into Roman’s mouth. Roman, who had been far more concerned with Seth’s facial movements, nearly choked in surprise.

He pulled himself off of Seth with a pop, tongue dragging upwards one last time. The young man arched his hips up into the missing space, whining around Roman’s fingers. 

Roman reached for the bottle of lube with his free hand, the noise of it popping open drew Seth’s attention. His eyes widened, pupils blowing wide to nearly take up all of the brown at the smirk on Roman’s face.

“Turn over, hands and knees baby boy”

He withdrew his fingers from Seth’s mouth and watched as he turned onto his stomach on wobbly arms before pushing up onto his knees.

“Legs wider” He said lowly, pressing a soft kiss to one of Seth’s cheeks. He leant back to give Seth some space, but realised he’d need to wrap an arm around him to steady him as soon as possible. He squeezed lube onto the fingers Seth had already liberally covered in saliva. He threw the bottle down beside Seth, wrapping his now free arm around his stomach. 

The feeling of Roman softly pressing into the soft ring of muscle sent Seth spinning. He desperately pushed back, wanting to be filled, looking for something other than fingers but Roman held him steady, afraid of damaging his partner. Seth wiggled uncomfortably to prove a point.  
“Don’t need- Rome I don’t-“

He pressed kisses against his spine to placate him as he gently pushed in and out, one to each character of his tattoo. Roman continued his pressing in until he was happy Seth was comfortable enough. A second finger joined the first, starting to stretch out Seth. Roman changed angle, working Seth open until he heard Seth’s breath hitch followed by a groan.

“T-there”

“Baby boy, you’re doing so well for me” breathed out Roman with a grin. He was satisfied to know that Seth was still there. He followed his direction, gently brushing the tight bundle of nerves every few thrusts. Finally, satisfied he withdrew his fingers, listening intently to Seth’s soft groan. Seth might have not needed this, but he certainly did. 

“Need you, please” begged Seth, turning his head a fraction to gaze at Roman. His lips were bitten raw with attempts to keep quiet.

“What was that baby?” Asked Roman, knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to keep the façade of not listening to Seth for too long.

“Roman, I need you, please, fuck me, please, I’m yours” He whined. The words were like magic to Roman. He was halfway out of his remaining clothes when Seth had whined out that gorgeous ‘I’m yours’. It was something he filed in the back of his mind for later, the needy way he said it paired with the image before him was enough to kill him.

He reached for the condom, unwrapping it quickly to roll it on. Seth’s pleas were becoming desperate now, Roman was taking too much time for his liking. He reached for the bottle, generously applying lube to his length. He took a step forward, brushing against his ass, his cock pressing lightly against his hole.

“Deep breaths baby boy, tell me if you need to stop” He reminded before pushing in.

Seth parted around him and Roman couldn’t repress the groan that came out as Seth’s name. The man under him bit back the slight uncomfortable burn that preceded the pleasure. Within a few moments, the pain was far outweighed by pleasure and Seth found himself arching up against Roman’s chest. He pushed in until he was flat against his ass.

He pulled out until just his head was sat inside Seth before slamming back into him. Seth’s arms buckled and Roman readjusted his arm to support his weight better. He set a slow pace at first, enjoying the way Seth’s name spilt out of his mouth.

He caught Seth’s lips in a kiss as he leant over him, bodies pressed tightly against each other. Seth was so wonderful around him and he couldn’t help but savour the moment. Ruining the moment as usual, Seth pushed back on him. He pulled away from the kiss with a sly grin. The teasing enough to tempt him into picking up the speed.

“Touch yourself for me” He growled lowly in his ear. With each slam of Roman’s hips, Seth’s eyes rolled back into his head. He felt so complete, pressing himself back into that strong chest. He reached down to touch his sensitive cock with his hand, whining as every thrust sent it into his palm. His cock was slick as he wrapped his hand around it. Every movement was an addition to the pure ecstasy that was building up inside him.  
“Rome- I’m… I’m gonna… fuck- “ 

“Go ahead, cum for me baby boy” He snapped into Seth with sharper thrusts. He could feel his own need for release building but Seth sounded so sweet the way he begged. He reached down to replace Seth’s hand with his own. Seth almost cried out at the difference, Roman stroking in time with his thrusts just felt so good. The man let out a guttural howl of Roman’s name, careening forward into the mattress as he spilt over Roman’s hand and over his own chest. Roman could barely move as Seth shuddered around him.

He managed a few more thrusts into his pretty partner before he pushed fully into Seth. He chanted his name as he came, groaning against the muscles of his back. 

He gently slipped his cock out of Seth, watching the body below him twitch in response. Seth whined at the loss of Roman, earning him a soft stroke down his back. He withdrew his hand and arm from under him, the younger man collapsing onto the mattress. Seth rolled over onto his back to watch Roman with a sated smile. He felt so good. “Stay?” He asked softly, earning a smile from Roman.

“Wouldn’t dream of leaving, I wouldn’t leave you like this, just going to clean up and get a towel to clean you up, sweetheart” Roman replied. He set off to the bathroom, leaving Seth to pull himself up onto the pillows. He lay still, taking deep breaths as he waited on Roman.

*

The bigger man returned and sat himself down on the bed next to Seth. He passed a wet towel over Seth’s stomach. The younger man lay passive, letting him clean him up with a small smile. He liked when Roman fussed over him like that. He tossed the towel over on top of their clothes when he finished. He held himself back from lying down until he felt a tug on his arm. Seth pulled him down to join him. They lay next to each other in silence for a moment before Roman pulled Seth onto his chest, stroking a hand through his hair softly.

“You need a shower” Seth grumbled as he curled into his chest. Roman smirked as he placed a testing kiss on Seth’s forehead. They never did anything like this but Roman was feeling particularly sentimental. He was glad to find he wasn’t pushed away for it, in fact Seth hummed his approval.

“You’re one to talk Rollins, you’re a mess” He said with a laugh. He was cut off by the sound of a yawn “Go to sleep” He said gently, stroking down to the scruffy beard of his best friend.

“Don’t leave tonight, Rome, please” Seth requested as he shut his eyes. It sounded like such a simple request, but between them nothing could ever be particularly simple. Usually they’d lay together and just talk but tonight was different. It was altogether too couple-y to spend the night with each other but then again, Roman could never deny him anything.

“I won’t Uce” He answered “I wouldn’t dare”

Seth gave him a small smile as he drifted off to sleep. Roman watched with a similar smile, wrapping his arms protectively around his body, and for a moment he wished this could be their everyday. When he was sure Seth was asleep he kissed the top of his forehead.

“God, I love you”


	5. Chapter 5

Seth woke in the morning, tangled around Roman. He had slept better than he had in forever cradled by Roman. He guiltily extracted his limbs from around him and hobbled slowly to his bag. He rifled through for his pyjama pants, tugging them on before moving to his gym bag. He fished his phone out and put it on charge before falling into bed beside a still dead-to-the-world Roman. Even though Roman had taken great care in his prep, he hurt from two nights straight of pretty hard sex. He curled up into the crook of Roman’s arm, sighing as it wrapped around him reflexively.

He remembered how at first it had just been him and Roman getting off together, platonic and nothing else, but now he felt a growing mess of feelings in his stomach every time he so much as saw Roman Reigns. He wanted to whisper ‘I love you’ at every chance he could but he didn’t want to ruin this. He didn’t want to feel the aching feeling of unrequited love in his chest every single time he met Roman’s eyes. He shook his head and burrowed into Roman’s side seeking heat.

The motion stirred the bigger man from his sleep. Roman’s eyes opened slowly, a smile splitting his face when he noticed the position of a clearly awake Seth.

“Good morning” He said quietly. His voice was deep with sleep in a way that Seth didn’t think was possible. He pulled Seth closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Seth flushed a dark red at the unexpected affection. The kiss was chaste, more to do with Roman being tired than anything else. “How are you holding up?”

“Sore” Seth answered truthfully. He absentmindedly traced across Roman’s tattoo, his fingers dancing through the intricate patterns. It felt nice to wake up with someone for once, it had been far longer than Seth cared to admit. Roman huffed his disapproval at Seth’s response, frowning with concern. He should have put more thought into what they had done, after all it was highly likely that his activities with… well Dean, Roman supposed he might as well put the name on the culprit, would take its toll on him.

“Anything I can do?” He asked, withdrawing his arm from Seth and sitting up. The covers pooled around his waist and Seth’s mind screamed thanks to whatever deity was looking out for him this early in the morning. He wasn’t sure he would be able to think if Roman wasn’t fully covered. He was acting like a teenager. He could handle Roman strolling around his room naked. Probably.

“Unless you want to wash me, no” Seth grinned as he joined Roman in reclining against the pillows. Roman looked deep in thought, that sounded like a great idea in his opinion. Roman looked like he was going to agree for a split second and actually opened his mouth. Seth quickly added an “I’m kidding Ro” nervously laughing.

An emotion passed over Roman’s face, something in between disappointment and apology. Seth’s stomach dropped, he didn’t understand it. Automatically he reached out to grab his friend’s hand, bridging the gap between them, and squeezing it tightly. A warm, comforting feeling spread through the both of them and Roman couldn’t help but smile. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss Seth properly there and then, to close the gap between them and just give in, but he held himself back. He wasn’t however able to stop himself from edging closer to tangle their legs with each other.

“Go take your shower, Seth” Roman complained as Seth tucked himself against his chest. Seth whined, unwilling to move now he was comfortable. His nest against Roman was interrupted by a hammering at his door. Roman groaned as Seth unwound himself from around him. As much as he joked about Seth being gross, he loved the weight wrapped around him a lot more.

*

Seth crossed towards the door, watching as Roman gracefully stood up from the bed, the sheets dropping off of him. Seth nearly choked as he reached for the door handle. He felt like a teenager as he watched his best friend cross the room naked to go to the bathroom. Seth could feel the heat radiating from his face as Roman disappeared through the door. He was so in lo-.

The pounding at the door started up again and Seth fought the urge to swear as he wrenched the door open.

Finn was behind the door, drawing himself up to look his full height. He thrust a note into his hands with a stormy look “Seth, I love you and all but please, god almighty, tell your boyfriend what your room number is, I’m not your messenger, man” He pushed past the taller man into the room, glancing around “Roman’s still here? Good. I gotta talk to you both” He added as he threw himself down on the couch, thankfully ignoring the bed "Putting yer business on the bloody door fer the world to see"

“Right! Will do Finn” Seth swallowed. He threw the note down on the bed, more concerned with Roman than any note. He knocked gently on the door, earning a soft grunt in response from Roman “Finn’s here!” he called through the door.

“Roman, hurry up! I need to talk to you both” Finn shouted before adding in a quieter voice “Feckin’ eejits” Seth couldn’t help but laugh at his friend.

“Did you get that, Rome?” Asked Seth, touching the door gently.

“Can you get me clothes, Seth? Get the clean ones in my gym bag?” Came the answering question, louder now as Roman was clearly behind the door. He scooped up Roman’s bag, dumping it on the bed. With an embarrassed look at Finn he reached over to shove the bottle of lube and condom wrapper into the deep recesses of Roman’s bag in the guise of searching for Roman’s clothes. He tugged a fresh pair of sweatpants, underwear and a clean black shirt from the bag, holding them up suspiciously. It seemed weird for Roman to plan that far ahead. Seth shook the thought away quickly. He was overthinking probably, they often had clean changes of clothes in their bags just in case, this wasn’t strange for Roman.

He was being paranoid.

He marched across to the door, knocking lightly. Roman opened the door, one towel around his hair and the other around his waist. Seth repressed a laugh as he handed over the clothes. Roman took them from Seth with a grateful smile before dragging Seth into the bathroom. Seth squeaked despite himself. Roman shut the door quickly, Finn’s wolf-whistles were dampened by the sound of the water running.

“If you start showering now, we can get on to being lectured by Finn”

*

He was right, of course, Roman was always right. Seth swallowed as he pulled off his pyjama pants and stepped into the shower. He flushed red as he stepped under the still running water, avoiding Roman’s eyes in the small bathroom, barely big enough for two normal sized people never mind two large wrestlers. Roman seemed to take up most of the room as Seth withdrew into the recesses of the shower. Something about him always made the room feel like it was smaller than him, like he was the centre of the universe. Seth scolded himself mentally, calling Roman the centre of the universe was nothing short of childish. He averted his eyes as Roman pulled on his clothes before opening the door to grab Seth something to wear.

“Roman Reigns, you’re going to start rumours! Well, or like… stop rumours because that’s so already a rumour” Finn said loudly. Roman rolled his eyes and ignored Finn as he bent down to sort through Seth’s suitcase. His wardrobe for travelling was entirely jeans and shirts with the odd pair of sweatpants. He picked something out at random, there wasn’t really a need to worry about matching items together. He threw open the door to the bathroom and threw the clothes on the counter without looking at Seth. He shut the door behind him, heading over to join Finn on the couch.

*

“Seth’s… mystery man keeps leaving things for Seth on my door” Finn observed quietly as Roman eased himself down beside him. Roman made a dismissive noise but was still unable to avoid frowning. “Rome you… you know he’s going to keep doing this until you tell him”

Finn was the voice of reason sometimes, and others he was as annoying as Seth. But he’d been rooting for Roman and Seth since day one. It had taken all of five minutes for him to weed the “I love Seth Rollins” confession out of him. Seth had been asleep on a bed in their motel room and Roman and Finn had been watching a movie. Roman kept casting looks back at the bed and all Finn had to do was connect the dots. He asked him to his face, and Roman had denied it at first but Finn had sighed, told him there was nothing wrong with it (several times) until Roman had laughed. Yes, he was, was it that obvious? To which Finn relayed a list of all the signs that Roman was clearly head over heels for his best friend.

For Finn, Seth had been harder to get it out of. Seth was afraid of so much. Finn had dragged it out of him over weeks, watched the way he looked up at Roman with those big puppy dog eyes and how he followed him around like he was the only thing that had ever mattered. Then of course, Roman had told Finn about their weird arrangement and it all fell into place. Seth was clearly pining for him. God he loved how stupid his friends were. When he finally admitted it, Seth had actually started crying and begged Finn not to tell. Of course he wouldn’t, he couldn’t do that to him. He couldn’t believe they didn’t know that they were in love. So instead he’d plied each of them with encouragements, to let the other know but they were so stubborn.

“I know, Finn, I just don’t want to mess up what we have”

That was it really, wasn’t it? The whole relationship summed up in one line. At least the mystery man had a bit of get up and go to him, Roman couldn’t move past this and neither could Seth. Maybe it’d be better if they just stopped chasing each other and stopped being locked into this whole friends with benefits they’d managed to get themselves into. Finn was pretty convinced they were perfect If only they could stop acting like nervous 18 year olds. 

“Yeah, I get it Rome, but it’s not like you could ruin much, he’d come running right back to you at the end of the day”

“He wouldn’t. Eventually. He’d find someone, it wouldn’t be hard for him to do, Finn” Roman said quietly, so quiet that Finn could barely hear it. It was like a sucker punch to the gut to hear that from his friend. His voice was restrained but there under the surface lurked raw emotion, threatening to breach.

“Oh… Rome”

The moment was interrupted by Seth stomping out of the bathroom. Roman seemed to immediately transform, the emotion replaced by his usual mask of calm. Seth fiddled with his suitcase for a moment before throwing himself down between Roman and Finn. He did a double take at Finn’s worried expression, head swivelling between the two.

“What did I miss?” He asked with a frown, moving slightly closer to Finn to touch his arm. Roman raised his eyebrows before fixing his gaze on the TV in front of them.

“Nothing important Seth, I was just talking to Roman about how your mysterious guy keeps leaving notes on my door” Finn grumbled as his expression cleared. Seth let out a relieved sigh, clearly satisfied that nothing horrible had happened. Finn’s lips tipped up into a smile at that, glad Seth didn’t seem so worried about Roman hearing about the note “What’d it say anyway, I didn’t want to read your… mail?”

Seth shrugged casually, leaning back into the couch. From an outsider’s perspective Seth clearly didn’t care but to the two other men in the room, he was avoiding it. Purposefully. He was itching to check it, but was acting compliant till he had time to sneak off and read it on his own. Roman didn’t care, the more Seth avoided it, the more he could avoid the feeling of… whatever it was growing in his chest.

“Why did you wanna talk to us both anyway?” Seth asked, raising his eyebrows. He wanted to still be curled up against Roman in bed instead of being stuck between them both. Finn looked stunned for a moment. In reality, he’d came over to speak to Seth on his own in an attempt to finally convince him to make a move, but Roman was there and he didn’t want to have Seth freak out. 

“Just wanted to know if you guys wanted to head out this afternoon, maybe three-ish? We can make it to that little town we looked at on the map and book a motel then get to the next city before everyone else. It’s give us all a day off ahead of most of ‘em” Finn was talking out his ass but it was true, he always wanted to hit the road early to make sure they were prepared. It was a believable lie for them all to swallow.

Roman thought about it briefly, weighing the pros and cons of being in an enclosed space with Seth after what he’d told Finn. Finally, nodded his assent, it was probably a good idea to get on the road before anyone else. Plus, Finn would be there and it’s not like he’d be on his own with his best friend.

“Why not, maybe if we get that extra day I can find a gym with a CrossFit class!” Seth agreed cheerily. Roman’s lips twitched briefly, a laugh threatening to crack his stony exterior. Yeah, that was the Seth Rollins he was in love with, no doubt about that.

*

Roman and Finn cleared out of the room soon after. Roman had left first, citing something about needing to pack and Finn soon after when he realised that Seth wouldn’t talk about anything that was going on. They left Seth to make something to eat and pack up the clothes strewn about his room. He threw himself back onto the bed, curling into the spot Roman had occupied. Seth buried his face deeply into the pillow to catch the last vestiges of Roman’s scent before rolling onto his back sighing. His heart was aching and he hated it.

Giving in, he reached half-heartedly for his glasses, sitting up to scrub them clean on his shirt before slipping them on. He grabbed the note half-heartedly before beginning to read.

‘Answer your fuckin phone, please. I don’t text much’ 

He snorted as he threw the note down. Short and sweet, clearly it had been stuck to Finn’s door in a fit of morning grumpiness. Seth was almost warmed by the slightly unconventional gesture. He reached over for his phone, much more at ease with the idea of talking to this man. He unplugged his phone, tapping in his password without a second thought. He opened his messenger app, staring down at three texts from an unknown number and a good morning text from Finn, clearly before he’d found a note pinned to his door like it was an open essay to the inhabitants of the hotel.

He swallowed carefully, finger hovering the unknown number with childish nerves springing up. ‘Now or never, Rollins’ he chided himself as he worked up the courage to open the texts.

‘Hey there Sethie, thank you for the wonderful night last night ;) Name’s Mox – 10.21pm’

‘Okay you’re hot as shit in the ring – 10.30pm’

‘Do you ever answer your phone? – 12.03am’

So he was a little rude, but to be fair, Seth would have been grumpy if a guy he’d fucked and who had gone to the bother of tracking him down actually ignored him. He did a mental scan of the roster. This ‘Mox’ didn’t seem to fit with anyone there, unless someone had spelt their own name wrong. He did however have most of the people he worked with saved, so that added a little mystique. There weren’t even any new signings with a name similar to that. He groaned in frustration and decided on the best course of action. Respond, duh, idiot.

‘Sorry, busy night. Put your love notes on the right door next time’

‘Sorry I didn’t mean that in a bad way you just got the wrong room number’

‘It was Finn’s room anyway’

Yeah, that would do. The texts in under 5 minutes. He threw his phone to the other end of the bed and buried himself under the covers and into what little lingered of Roman. He was a hopeless case.


	6. Chapter 6

“Seth!” Finn yelled, hammering on the door with his fist. Seth hadn’t answered any his calls or texts to move his ass, leaving Finn to trudge upstairs because ‘We will leave you Rollins, do not tempt me’ hadn’t worked. Empty threats but still, Seth not turning up at least 5 minutes before hand worried both Roman and Finn, through Roman wouldn’t admit it. Finn had sighed and stormed upstairs to find him while Roman sat in the car. “Seth Rollins, open up right now! We’re gonna leave you!” 

The door opened slowly and Seth in rumpled clothes, his hair sticking out at odd angles, answered. Finn mentally let out a sigh of relief.

“What? I was sleepin’, you didn’t have to shout so loud” He complained blearily, rubbing his eyes. Finn rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone before turning it around to show Seth the time “Oh… its afternoon… oh right” He turned red, hurrying inside his room. 

Finn relaxed on the doorframe as he watched with interest. Seth was hauling bags up onto his bed and finishing throwing things into his suitcase. He frowned slightly and entered the room, heading for the bathroom. He scooped up Seth’s washbag with a sigh. He could forget his head if it wasn’t screwed on. 

“Rollins!” He called as he exited, his eyes landing on Seth as he pulled on his shoes looking mildly frazzled. Finn snickered, earning him a withering look “Washbag, dude, thank me later!”

He did look grateful as Finn shoved it in on top of his gym bag, dropping down to pick it up for him.

“Thought you didn’t carry bags?” Seth drawled as he got to his feet and grabbed his suitcase’s handle. Finn rolled his eyes before throwing the bag at Seth who groaned as he picked it up. He stopped for a minute, going over his itinerary. Suitcase, gym bag, washbag, charger, phone… phone! “Finn, can you grab my phone? Pretty please?” He motioned at the corner of his bed where the phone sat precariously.

Finn scooped it up, unlocking it without looking up at Seth “You have a message!”

“Leave it, I’ll check it later!” He called as he lugged his suitcase and gym bag out the door. Finn followed, obviously not listening to a word Seth said. He opened the messaging app with a quick swipe, scanning down the messages with a sly grin.

“Secret Admirer is really a dick? No wonder you get on well” Finn murmured as they stepped in the elevator. His eyes flicked down to the newest text “I quote, ‘Oh shit wrong room? Not bad, at least it got to you. Finn would look good in mailman’s shorts’, End quote”

“He’s not wrong” Seth laughed “Message him back for me?”

“Sure, what do you want? Option A: ‘Finn looks good in anything!”, B ‘Finn is hot as fuck anyway’ or C ‘Finn’s so cute oh my god!’ or D, all of the above”

“None of the above?”

“You’re no fun, Rollins”

“You’re not using me as your hype man, just send him some laughin’ faces and ‘just don’t leave anything out for the mailman, we’re on our way to the next city’, please Finn?” 

“You’re so boring!”

“I’ll call you if I ever need a wingman, Finn”

*

The elevator stopped and the two stepped out, and padded across the lobby, with a quick stop at the reception to hand back his keys. As soon as they were out, Finn directed them across the car park to their car. It was bright, which momentarily stunned Seth who rifled through the front of his bag so he could trade the glasses perched precariously on his face for sunglasses. Finn huffed in annoyance as he squinted out into the carpark. He caught sight of the big figure by the driver’s side door. Roman was leaning against the car in the afternoon sun, running a hand through his hair as he talked to someone. Finn stopped for a second and grabbed a hold of Seth’s arm. Seth slid his sunglasses on to his face, stopping with a slight jump as Finn grabbed at him.

“Uh, Seth, how much do you want to punch Dean Ambrose currently? Like on a scale of one to broken nose”

“What do you mean? Finn, I have no clue what you’re talking about!” Seth frowned as he tried to decipher his friend’s words. Finn gave him a desperate look “Okay fine, I’ll bite, how about a 4 then? He’s not actively impacting my day but he’s still annoying”

Finn made a distressed noise before relinquishing his arm. Seth gave him a quizzical look, before turning to keep walking towards the car. 

“Ah. Right”

Seth took a deep breath, before moving. Finn fell into step beside Seth as they closed the rest of the distance between them and the car. Roman looked up as they approached, giving them a smile. Finn saw Seth’s jaw set as he ignored Roman and headed straight for the trunk to throw his luggage in. Dean was standing next to Roman, his back to Seth who shot daggers at the man as he put his stuff away. Dean had his backpack balanced on the roof of the car and a stuffed to bursting duffle bag at his feet as he chatted away, grinning up at the bigger man.

“Finn! Good to see you man!” Dean chirped, reaching to shake Finn’s hand enthusiastically. His eyes darted towards Seth, which neither Roman or Finn missed. He swallowed as Seth disappeared out of sight into the trunk “Roman offered me a ride, hope you don’t mind”

A swore rung out from the back of the car and Roman grimaced.

“Sorry, can someone help me fit this stuff in?”

Roman sighed in response, and grabbed Dean’s baggage for him. He headed around to help Seth and to finish packing up everyone’s items. Seth was giving his best interpretation of someone trying to play Tetris as he reorganised the trunk to give him enough room. Roman stepped in beside him, touching his hand lightly as he helped move a bag further back.

Dean, in light of losing Roman and the disinterest of Seth, had turned his attention to Finn who seemed entirely impervious to his charms. However, Dean had never backed away from a challenge before. He was just being friendly. He leaned in close to Finn, hanging on his every word as he spoke. He was actually quite enjoying hearing him speak, he really wasn’t bad in the ring either, and he seemed like he would actually make a good friend. Roman and Seth both liked him and that was more good enough for him. The idea that Seth and Roman’s opinions of people actually could mean something to him was slightly terrifying.

*

Roman broached the idea of Dean coming with them with one hand curled in the hair at the nape of Seth’s neck and the other pushing Ambrose’s backpack in. He could tell Seth was about to kick off, so softly as he could he murmured praise in his ear until finally he came around to the idea. Roman hated this, manipulating Seth, but he couldn’t let Dean go without a lift. He didn’t know anyone well enough apart from the three of them to hitch a ride and he didn’t want to leave him on his own. 

“Over-protective bastard” Seth had muttered under his breath as Roman let him go. He wasn’t surprised he was that big a pushover when it came to Reigns. Sure he was mad at him for inviting Dean but he couldn’t blame him for Dean agreeing. Roman smiled. Yeah, over-protective was the least of his worries.

“Are we going? Or have you two found a black hole in the boot… trunk?” Came Finn’s voice from around the side of the car. Seth chanced a grin at his friend’s slip and was glad to find Roman ginning back. Relived, he slipped past Roman with a better attitude than the one he had started with. 

“Yeah, yeah, we’re here Finny!” He complained, bumping into Finn with a smile. “Sorry for ignoring you there, Dean, too much luggage!” Seth attempted with a half-hearted grin. Roman almost beamed with pride at his friend and Finn genuinely looked confused for a moment. Dean raised his eyebrows slightly at the gesture but smiled back with a slightly pleased look.

“My fault, man! I should have asked Rome if there was room before tagging along” Seth almost flinched at the familiarity that Dean seemed to have with Roman now. He swallowed before smiling brightly. 

Finn patted Seth on the back as he passed by to get into the driver’s seat. Dean jogged off around to the other side to get in the passenger seat leaving Seth and Roman to share the backseat. Not that Seth minded, in fact, Seth was pretty glad Dean wasn’t too near Roman. He pulled out his phone as he climbed in, leaning back as he put in his headphones. No reply from the Mystery man but honestly, he hadn’t expected much. He put something on loudly in the background as they started to move. They usually drove in relative silence simply because whoever was driving wanted to concentrate, but with Dean there, there was suddenly so much noise.

He chattered away to Finn, who was relatively animated as he talked, nodding his head as Dean broke out in yet another anecdote. Every so often, Roman would add something into conversation and a peal of laughter would ring out in the front seat. Eventually Seth ripped out a headphone to listen to them speak.

“Oh hey, our little princess is finally listening! Hey, Seth, we were just talking about last night!” Dean was first to notice Seth listening in and only too happy to pull him into the conversation.

“Since when did we call me a princess?” Seth groaned as he sat up straighter.

“You’re a bit of a brat, Rollins” Finn helpfully supplied with a grin into the mirror. Roman laughed slightly and Seth punched his arm lightly.

“Well, that’s a little unfair to Seth, Finn! He’s probably just sexually frustrated or something!” Dean added, sending Finn into fits of hysterics. He bit back laughter as he kept an eye on his driving. Roman sniggered, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Dean, studying him for a moment before dropping his eyes to focus on Seth.

“I am not sexually frustrated!”

“Yes, you are” Dean said immediately. Seth groaned, trying to hide his small smile. Roman ruffled Seth’s hair gently with a sly grin as Seth turned red and pulled his shirt up over his face.

“You’re all awful people” He muttered as he sunk back into his seat.

“Aw he’s all embarrassed, poor boy” Dean grinned wolfishly. Seth managed to mutter a fuck you, but it was weak at best. It seemed to prove Dean’s point and he burst into laughter at the grumpy looking Rollins who was now trying to push his headphones back in “And now he’s in a mood!”

“Shame, I’m sure he’s totally going to miss you talking about how you beat Finn’s ass” Roman shrugged with a small smile. Seth closed his eyes, leaning his head against Roman’s shoulder. The bigger man relaxed at the weight and in turn closed his eyes. It was nice to have Seth so close when there were other people around.

“Who doesn’t want to beat Finn’s ass? I mean, maybe not in public next time” Dean raised his eyebrows and wiggled them dangerously. He frowned as a laughing Finn reached into the gap between them to turn the radio down.

“One, thanks but unfortunately I like my ass, and before you ask, Seth and Rome are trying to catch some Zs”

“Late night?”

“Oh you wouldn’t believe” 

*

It was the rapturous laughter from the front seat that finally woke Seth. He jumped awake, hand bracing on the still sleeping Roman’s thigh, as he dragged himself to alertness. He swore as he ripped his headphones out, causing Dean to start and turn. The man looked surprised and… was that a hint of worry Seth caught? It was only for a brief second before he rearranged his features into a smile. Unlike Roman, Seth couldn’t read people especially well, he relied pretty much on assumptions and previous interaction and this was still so new. 

He shot Ambrose his most threatening stare as he tucked his phone into his pocket. He ran a hand through his hair as Finn gave a nod to him in the mirror. In the time that Seth had been passed out on top of Roman, he had started to chip away at Ambrose. He liked him well enough and genuinely thought he was a nice guy but he was guarded, more so than Seth. But Finn liked a challenge.

Ambrose had flirted with him without shame but it was clearly a defence mechanism to stop him from getting in too close. When Finn didn’t reciprocate the conversation became more normal and friendly. Soon it was like they’d been friends for years. Dean asked a lot of questions, mostly about Roman and Seth. He hung on every story like it was the only thing he cared about. Finn followed the hints to their natural conclusion. Great, another thing for poor Finn to pick up the pieces of.

He shook his head to clear it. Dean, despite his hard exterior, seemed genuine. Every joke he cracked managed to draw a laugh from Finn. He was enjoyable company. Now the flirting was more banter and Finn was more than happy to tease back.

“Can you two at least not sound like someone let a Zoo into our front seat?” Seth grumbled as he sat up straight. He retracted his hand from Roman’s thigh with an internal sigh. 

“Can’t help it, Seth, Finn just drives me wild!” Dean grinned and Finn sniggered in response which only served to send alarm bells ringing in Seth’s head.

“Who are you and what did you do with Finn Bálor? Did Dean give you something?” Seth asked as he leant forward to prop himself up in the gap between the two seats. Admittedly, closer to Dean than he’d like but he wanted to check in on his friend. Finn rolled his eyes dramatically at the suggestion but kept grinning.

“You’re so dramatic, Rollins” Finn sighed good naturedly “Fortunately, where you can’t make friends, I can” Seth pouted at the comment. From his other side there was a soft laugh as Dean watched the exchange between the two.

Dean was almost hurt by the suspicion that plagued Seth when the subject turned to him. It wasn’t unwarranted, he supposed. Seth didn’t seem to remember anything about Dean, or about that night. But there was one key thing that said otherwise, the hoodie. Dean’s had nearly vaulted over Roman in the locker room when he had seen Seth with the hoodie, to press kisses against every inch of skin and tell Seth that he was killing him. But he didn’t. He did have some form of restraint.

“And Finn’s more friendly than most” Dean chimed in as he reached over to trail a hand up the outside of Finn’s leg. Finn held back laughter, muttering about being ticklish before Dean let him go. Seth huffed and threw himself back against the seat. Dean could flirt with his friends all he liked but he certainly wasn’t going to watch. Dean was amused by Seth’s reaction and winked over at the driver “Jesus, Seth, someone’s moody” 

One of Roman’s eyes slowly opened at the bump of Seth beside him. He had been half listening as he dozed in and out of consciousness but it was the thud of Seth back into the seat that woke him up fully.

“Uce? You okay?” He asked sleepily, reaching for Seth’s arm. Dean could only watch as Seth’s whole demeanour changed. His attention was suddenly entirely focused on the big man as soon as he spoke. Seth smiled and grabbed his hand in both of his. Dean was more than a little jealous of the deep care between the two of them.

“Yeah Rome, it’s all good, Dean’s just being gross” Seth answered with a pointed glare at Dean. Roman grinned as he opened both eyes. Seth was clearly still in good spirits. Roman raised his eyebrows, looking at Dean who smirked back. Seth coughed, bringing Roman’s attention back to him “Hitting on Finn”

“Oh?”

“I can hit on Roman if you’d prefer, sweetheart” Dean drawled. Seth turned bright red and he saw Finn flinch and shift uncomfortably in his seat. Roman however, didn’t seem as uncomfortable at the prospect. For once Seth’s entire mind was blank as he watched Dean’s smile widen “Yknow Roman, I haven’t paid you back for lunch, maybe we can work out a payment plan?”

Seth saw red as Roman laughed.

“Stop fucking flirting with my best friends, Ambrose!” Seth snapped. He felt Roman touch his arm but he shook it off quickly as he leant forward. Dean blanched as Seth reached for his seat belt as if to undo it “You think this is funny? It’s really not! You’re annoying and you do this, this whole flirting thing with my friends! To get under my skin!”  
Finn’s brain was in overdrive as he pulled in at a motel. He needed out of the car for 10 minutes to think and come up with a plan of action that didn’t involve the murder of his friends. As soon as the car stopped, Seth’s hand was on the door handle, tugging at it to throw the door open.

“Seth Rollins, close the door, now!” Roman growled. Seth’s hand stilled as he felt a large hand on his shoulder. He let Roman tug him back into the car, pulling the door shut behind him.

Finn looked relieved at Seth’s compliance as he leant his head against the headrest. He touched his forehead with a wince, being in this car with these three would kill him. Seth seemed to relax as Roman unbuckled and moved closer to him. His bottom lip was quivering like he was close to tears. Roman frowned as he gently took Seth’s face in his hands.  
“I’m going to get a slushy and some painkillers from the gas station, when I come back, I expect you all to be fine” Finn muttered as he grabbed the keys and climbed out the car “Work it out like adults, please!” 

Roman leant his forehead against Seth’s sighing. Seth shut his eyes to avoid Roman’s burning stare, brow furrowed in frustration as he attempted to put into words the feelings boiling through his blood.

“Seth…” His voice was soothing, like he was talking to an injured animal. It felt like a punch straight to the gut.

“Roman, shut up for just a second” Seth muttered lowly. The bigger man swallowed and pulled away, his expression stained with hurt and obvious worry. Seth regretted it the moment it was out his mouth but there was no turning back. His head swivelled towards Dean “Fine, we’ll handle this like adults. What’s your problem Ambrose? Is it me? If it’s me, fine, okay, just ignore me instead of doing this shit to get back at me for something I haven’t done”

“Sweetheart, please, you’re overreacting” Dean started with a small sigh. The sound grated on Seth’s nerves, like he wasn’t at fault.

“Don’t you dare ‘Sweetheart’ me, Ambrose, this isn’t a game” Seth spat. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs as he continued. “Acting like you’re god’s fuckin’ gift to mankind, you can’t keep a hold on yourself for one fuckin’ minute” 

“Seth, I’m just… joking”

Dean felt a twinge of guilt, Seth looked genuinely hurt at what he had thought was harmless fun. He didn’t understand his anger but he sure as hell felt awful about it. There was a moment of silence as Seth stuck his head in his hands before muttering “Fuck, sorry, I’m overreacting” 

His chest felt as if it was constricting in on itself agonizingly as he hunched over his arms. He was trembling slightly. He wasn’t sure if it was just anger anymore, a painful panic had started to set in at the base of his brain.

“Sethie… I’m sorry, I thought we were having fun” Dean tried as he positioned himself to lean through the gap. He reached through enough to touch Seth’s arm. He didn’t shy away from the touch but he didn’t react either which was far more alarming.

Seth shook slightly as he pressed his hands over his eyes. He could feel himself crying. Ugly tears started to roll out from the corner of his eyes and he was unable to stop them.  
“Seth? Rollins? Sweetheart, come on, speak to us”

Roman turned back, kneeling with one leg on the seat and the other half crouched on the floor. He had his hand on Seth’s back, softly stroking up and down as he tried to coax him out of himself “Hey, baby boy, what’s going on with you?” Dean’s brain registered the nickname dully but he was far more focused on Seth, on the shake of his shoulders as he regressed into himself.

Roman managed to extract Seth’s face from his hands. His skin had taken on a sickly quality and his cheeks which were flushed with an angry red. Dean made a worried noise at the back of his throat, the scene set off a dull panic in Dean’s mind. Roman ignored Dean completely, gently touching Seth’s face. The young man murmured something under his breath, looking like he was about to burst into tears.

“What was that, sweetheart?” Dean asked. He was relieved that Seth was still responsive, the panic wracking him subsided for a moment. He ran his hands over the inside of Seth’s arm, pressing his finger’s against his wrist as he looked for reassurance in the form of a pulse. He found it, thready and weak but there. He drummed his fingers lightly over the point with a smile, the repetition of the motion always calmed him and he hoped it would have the same effect on Seth.

Seth felt like he was watching everything around him in slow motion. Dean was gently rubbing warmth into his arms, eyes wide with concern. It felt briefly unreal, combined with Roman as he stroked his cheeks trying to get Seth to focus in on something. Seth desperately sought out Dean’s hands, clinging to them trying to anchor himself. Roman’s mind was working overtime to find something that would help.

Roman desperately leaned in, pressing his lips against Seth’s. The younger man’s body went slack. There was a second of calm before reality hit in on Seth Rollins.


	7. Chapter 7

The panic changed in Seth, from gingerly ebbing to explosive as Roman pressed his lips against his. He felt like the world was collapsing in on him. His brain seemed to spike violently and he started shaking, tugging at the car door and spilling out on to the concrete.

*

Finn returned to the car to find every door open and Seth hunched at the side, vomiting. Roman was knelt beside him, stroking slow circles in his back as he heaved onto the concrete. Dean was pacing back and forward beside them, tapping his fingers on his collarbone irregularly with his eyes locked on Seth. The straw from his slushie fell out his mouth as he surveyed the scene. He thrust the half empty cup at Ambrose as he pushed Roman out of the way. Roman started back, letting go of Seth.

“Can’t leave you bloody feckin’ eejits alone with the lad for five minutes, have t’ come back to this, lord almighty” He muttered, his accent flooding his voice as he looked over Seth. He placed a hand on the small of his back as his friend dry heaved, shaking. He let out a soft whine as Finn slid his hand up the back of his shirt to touch the skin. Clammy and cold. He sighed as he sat down on the ground and carefully helped a panicking Seth sit down beside him instead of hunching over the ground “One of you dicks better have a good explanation for him having a flamin’ panic attack”

“Panic attack!” Dean near shrieked, his pacing stopped. He still held Finn’s drink in one outstretched hand. Roman watched on, brows knitted together with a pained expression.

“Well, I just put two and two together, didn’t I? He wasn’t exactly in the best condition when I left, but I didn’t expect to find him this state!” He hissed. Seth made a pitiful noise and Finn sighed quietly. Roman took a tentative step towards the pair before backing off. Seth was making those awful drawn out sobs and a part of Roman’s brain lit up with the need to comfort his best friend but he certainly thought better of it when he saw Finn bristling with annoyance. 

Dean joined Roman looking utterly hopeless, chewing on his bottom lip “I… I didn’t mean to… Did I do this? Oh my god this is my fault”

“Shush Dean it’s fine” Roman said almost robotically. Finn scowled upwards at Roman.

“Yes, yes it’s your damn fault, both of you” He snapped loudly. Seth seemed to wince at the sharp noise and Finn realised his mistake. He dipped his head to talk softly to his friend “Hey there Seth, I’m sorry, shouldn’t have left you with them, huh? Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll beat them within an inch of their lives when you’re back up”

“To be honest, I think I might have to hold you back from doing it” Seth croaked. Finn couldn’t suppress his smile.

“Damn right, Rollins” 

*

Eventually Finn managed to get Seth standing without incident. Roman and Dean had moved over to help but Finn hit them with a withering glare, much to Seth’s bleary amusement. Finn had clearly learned a thing or two from him. They made their way towards the motel’s reception, Roman and Dean looking sheepish as they brought up the rear. They got two rooms, Finn making it very clear that he and Seth would share.

“Roman, can you get Seth and I’s bags? Dean can get his own. Drop them in with us but don’t bother staying” Finn commanded. Roman nodded as he took the keys from Finn and  
left, Dean following him with his hands in his pockets. 

He negotiated Seth into their room and onto one of the beds. His shoulders slumped as Finn sat beside him. His friend wrapped a comforting arm around him as they sat staring at the floor.

“I didn’t know what was happening, everything was in slow motion and I wasn’t able to do anything at all. Dean was holding my arms and then Ro kissed me. I freaked I think, then I… puked, I guess” Seth mumbled. Finn froze for a second before pulling him into a hug. Seth was warm to the touch now, less sweaty than he had been in the parking lot, though he definitely still smelt of vomit. It was unpleasant but Finn had had his fair share of panic attacks and vomit sessions in the toilets early in his career. 

“It’s going to be okay, he just didn’t know what to do so… he just did what he could” Finn assured him.

“I wanted him and Dean to just talk to me… I just couldn’t say, couldn’t tell them to keep talking” His voice slid up into a higher pitch, a quiet desperation creeping in as he spoke quickly.

“That happens sometimes, Seth, you just… Seth, you need to take deep breaths for me”

“Sorry, worried” He said sharply for an apology.

Finn’s comforting was broken by a knock at the door. He got up, half opening the door to hide Seth from Roman’s eyes. He knew his friend would never forgive him if he let Roman see him any weaker than he already was. There was a moment of silence between the two at the door as they traded bags and the melted remains of a slushie. Roman asked what they wanted from the McDonalds down the street. Finn glanced back at Seth who shook his head. He relayed his order to Roman before adding a ‘Get something for Seth, please’.  
He shut the door, returning to his vigil next to his friend. He persuaded him under the covers, wrapping him up in the warmth. He looked so small, which was almost completely impossible for Seth to ever look. Finn thought for a moment before gently running a hand through Seth’s hair, a motion he’d seen Roman do millions of times to a stressed Seth. It was like a switch flipped on in Seth’s brain as his face lit up. Conditioned response, Finn noted with a strange gratefulness towards Roman.

“Better?” He asked, fingers slipping to braid the hair under him. It was a natural motion for him to twist the hair into loose plaits as his friend closed his eyes.

“Mhm… thanks Finn… you’re braiding my hair?”

“Yeah… hope that’s okay, I just used to do it a lot for my family an’ my friends little sisters when I was young and nobody else was around t’ do it” Finn said quickly as his hands stilled. Seth nodded and opened his eyes with an encouraging smile “It relaxes me to do it, sorry, I can stop if you want”

“Don’t be stupid, Finn, I like it” He replied softly before sitting up “Better angle?”

Finn sat behind Seth on the bed, braiding his hair back loosely to pull it off his face. The domesticity combined with Finn’s confession made Seth long to be back home for a bit, to be with his family. Together, they decided that it was probably dangerous to use the bathroom in shady one star motels. They decided the beds were clean enough though, it wasn’t that bad. When Finn was satisfied that Seth was 1) calm and 2) had pretty hair, he left the bed to open a window and let some fresh air into the stuffy room.  
Seth watched as Finn opened the window and pulled out his phone. His eyes flicked down to the screen before his thumbs moved to text back. Seth’s eyes narrowed in questioning as Finn looked back up. 

“You are a hazard to society, Seth Rollins” Finn commented as he tucked his phone back in his pocket “Two men who clearly absolutely adore you and all you had to do was vomit on their shoes” He laughed at Seth’s stunned face.

“Roman and Dean don’t adore me and I didn’t vomit on their shoes! I vomited beside the car” He mumbled, folding his arms “Dean hates my guts, Finn! And Roman… well Ro’s Roman”

“Dean is currently insisting on buying you ice cream, that’s pretty up there on the ‘I love Seth Rollins’ scale” Finn laughed as he sat on the bed beside Seth who groaned and pulled the covers over his head “They’ve been deliberating for the last 15 minutes on what flavour you want, I said to get you something boring”

There was another groan before Seth muttered something about it being the most stupid thing he’d ever heard. Finn smiled slightly before lying back on the bed next to his best friend. 

“There’s a scale for… being in love… with me?”

“Yeah, buying you food comes in at a solid 6, having regular sex is a 9”

“Don’t be stupid, Bálor, he feels sorry for me” Seth huffed as he let Finn under the covers with him “And besides, that would put you at least at a 7, Finn, and I’m, no offence, not into you”

“Oh offence taken, Seth!” Finn laughed, but Seth fidgeted uncomfortably “I’m kidding, there’s different types of love anyway ya dummy, and as much as I love ya, I don’t wanna make out any time soon”

Now it was Seth’s turn to take mock offence. The two men giggled like kids as they hid under the blankets together. Their make-shift blanket fort was soon broken by a knocking at the door. Seth swallowed slowly, but Finn gave his face a reassuring pat and a playful tug at a half loose braid. He extracted himself from the covers and wandered over to the door. He leaned in to check through the peephole before opening the door. Dean stood with a bundle of food and flowers in his arms. 

“Uh, for Seth I guess, Roman wanted to get ‘im flowers” He offered Finn a smile as he held out the bundle. 

He attempted to look past the Irishman into the room but could only see a bundle of covers shifting on the bed. He was slightly surprised that Seth could bundle himself up small but Seth managed to surprise him constantly. He was even more surprised by the overwhelming feeling of the need to protect Rollins. Finn took the flowers from him with a frown. It was a silly gesture, but Roman and Dean both agreed that gas station flowers had this awful poetry about them. Like it was the bit in the movie where the protagonist rushed miles to stop their love from leaving on an aeroplane, stopping only to pick up flowers from the gas station in apology. Roman had snorted as Dean had lifted them before his face softened. Apparently Roman was a sucker for soppy romantic movie gestures. The more Roman’s too cool exterior cracked, the more Dean wanted to hold him tight and never let go. How horrendously soppy.

“Mint choc chip ‘n vanilla, we couldn’t decide which one to get him” He commented as he piled two tubs into Finn’s arms. He watched the mass on the bed shift and Seth’s head appear from the pile. Dean immediately looked away and flushed guiltily as he dumped the rest of the items onto Bálor. He could feel the warm brown eyes following him as he reached to close the door. He shot Seth the smallest most apologetic smile he could as he shut the door.  
Finn turned to Seth with his eyebrows raised. 

“Oh you poor, unfortunate, idiots”

*

Dean tramped back across the carpark to the room he was sharing with Roman. The big man was leaning on the door frame with his arms folded as he watched Dean hurry back from the room across the way. Dean had point blank refused to let Roman help carry anything over. His fault, he’d take it. Roman had tried to explain that it wasn’t just him but Dean was set. So, he’d resigned himself to watching from the door. 

When the door had opened, Roman had stood up a little straighter to try and see who was answering. The door was still half closed, like it had been when he’d been there earlier. Clearly Finn was answering, again shielding Seth from them. Gifts exchanged hands, and then Dean was leaving. 

Dean caught Roman’s eye as he drew up to the door, he tried to smile but the twitch in his lips fell flat. Roman moved to allow him into the room with a small nod.

“How’s Seth?” Roman asked as he shut the door behind them. Dean was already to his bed, throwing himself down with a muffled thump. He rolled onto his back to back to watch the big man cross the room to sit on the edge of Dean’s bed.

“Alive” Dean answered with a shrug. Roman rubbed his face before fixing Dean with a more intense glare that obviously meant ‘And?’. Ambrose sighed as he continued “Finn’s real protective, Seth’s all bundled up like he’s gonna break at any moment and not a hulking wrestler” He stopped and Roman made a desperate noise “I only got a glance at him Rome”

Roman hung his head. The Big Dog defeated. Dean sat up to wrap an arm around Roman’s shoulders and gave his arm a squeeze. He had a feeling Roman would be beating himself up about Seth’s panic attack for a while. Roman unexpectedly leant in against Dean but he didn’t mind that at all.

“We’re idiots, Dean” Roman grumbled lowly. It was matter-of-fact statement that Dean couldn’t help but murmur his agreement to. 

Dean swallowed before he retracted his arm from around Reigns. He sat Roman up and gave him a huge grin “C’mon Big Dog, let’s do something fun to take your mind off this… how about a game of Truths?”

“truths?”

“Yes, Roman, that’s the name of the game! Don’t tell me you’ve never played!” He chirped cheerily. He was going to make Roman Reigns smile if it was the last thing he did “Never met a wrestler who hasn’t played! Though… I never played guys much… girls however! I have heard some shit Ro!”

The sentiment managed to wrangle a smile out of Roman which sent Dean’s mind into full ‘talk shit mode’.

“So, it’s kinda like truth or dare, only without the dare ‘cause we didn’t want to do anything all that potentially career ruining” Dean grinned as he explained the rules, his hands moving as he spoke animatedly. Roman couldn’t take his eyes off him as he recanted a tale of ‘truth or dare’ before it got reduced to just truths “What’d ya say Ro? You in?”

“Sure, Deano, what could go wrong?” Roman grinned before shifting back on the bed. They started simple, favourite foods, colours before Roman upped the game. Everything could go wrong.

“Did you have sex with Seth?”

That was the million-dollar question that Roman had wanted to ask since he worked out it was probably Dean. He watched the other man redden as he looked at his feet. Roman could already take that as a yes, but he wanted to hear it. He shifted closer to Dean who stared down at his shoes.

“Yeah, we hooked up, Seth’s uh… yeah” He muttered lowly before looking up “Don’t let him know, Roman, he doesn’t like me as it is. I would have told him if he didn’t act like I was such a bastard” Roman reached for Dean’s hand and squeezed it softly, an understanding passing between them.

“You did just run up on him and proceed to taunt him even after the promo ended, probably should have asked him for drinks or something” He paused for a moment “Your turn” Roman prompted, knowing well enough what was coming next.

“You kissed Seth back there, do you have... uh... feelings for him?”

“Yeah” Roman answered, his voice quiet but raw with emotion.

The answer hung in the air. Roman closed his eyes as he waited for a response. Waiting on the laugh and taunt that Dean was probably preparing. What he didn’t expect was Dean pulling himself up onto his lap and burying his head against his shoulder. Dean felt red hot as he draped himself over the bigger man. It wasn’t his smartest idea, but then again, he wasn’t really thinking. He wanted to make Roman feel better.

“Dean-” Roman warned lowly. There was a small sound from Dean that was muffled in the material of Roman’s shirt. ‘God, this is a bad idea’ Roman sighed internally. Even so, he wrapped his arms around Dean, pulling him tighter against his chest.

“Truths. Right? Are you and Seth a thing?”

“No… no”

“Truths? Do you feel guilty?” Dean asked softly as he sat up, resting his forehead against the Roman’s, his brain suddenly kicking in. Roman’s arms tightened, his hands resting heavily on Dean’s back. He felt guilty about hurting Seth, at letting Dean get out of hand. But he didn’t feel guilty about wrapping Dean up against him.  
Dean had somehow managed to settle somewhere in his heart, right next to Seth Rollins.

Roman shook his head and the corners of Dean’s lips twitched. The two stared at each other in silence before Dean whispered “I do”  
He unwound himself from around Roman, his whole body screaming for him to do the opposite. Roman’s hands held steady on his back. They were at a gridlock. Dean didn’t want to move but had to and Roman… there was Roman’s hands around him. 

“Roman” Now it was Dean who was warning, warning not just Roman but every fibre of his being. Roman’s hands dropped to the bed. The next words from his mouth felt like a dangerous knife “Roman, you know that we shouldn’t”

“You’re right” Roman admitted, leaning his head forward onto Dean’s chest.

“Roman? You okay?” Dean asked quietly as he brushed a hand through Roman’s hair. The bigger man started and looked up. Dean was smiling and Roman could never resist a smile like that.

Roman reached up to wrap his hand around the back of Dean’s head before pulling him down, lips crushing together briefly. It was fast and vicious and everything Dean needed. Dean felt branded, Roman’s lips were a fire on his before they pulled away from each other. The air between them wasn’t quite cool enough to dull the burn.

Dean was stunned as Roman reached for his hand and pulled him down onto the bed beside him. Roman didn’t press Dean for anything, though Dean definitely wanted to kiss the bigger man. Roman was content to run his thumb over the other man’s knuckles, tracing small circles on the back of his hand. The two quietly talked before Roman eventually got up to check his phone out of a sense of duty.

“Finn’s asleep” He commented as he unlocked his phone “Seth’s texting me, and there’s no way Finn would let him if he knew”

He fired off a response to his best friend, refusing to lift his eyes to look at Dean. He didn’t feel guilty about kissing Dean, he felt guilty about not letting Seth know. He went to tuck his phone away when it buzzed again. Roman smiled widely and Dean swore it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, tied with the way Seth looked in the moonlight when he leant up off the bed to kiss him. Dean shook his head to clear it. He needed to stop thinking of both men in the same breath. Hell, he shouldn’t be thinking of them both at all but here he was, acting lovesick. 

“He says ‘Thanks for the flowers and tell Dean that the mint choc chip was a good choice’, that’s good. He’s eating.” Dean perked up and crossed to Roman, draping over his shoulder to read the message.

“Do you think he’d answer if we called?” Dean asked, eyes big with excitement.

Roman laughed quietly before shaking his head “Not if Finn’s asleep in the room”

Ah, there it was, Finn Bálor was the beginning and end of all their issues and if anything Dean was glad about that. Finn was understanding and kind but he was also fiercely loyal to his friends. Seth was lucky to have him on side. Dean vocalised his appreciation for Finn to Roman who simply chuckled before giving one last glance at the phone screen.  
“He says goodnight”

“To you?”

“To us.”

*

If Seth could turn back time, he would have refrained from chucking up the contents of his stomach on the tarmac. Mostly because it left him hungry. He could get by on empty, but not by on hungry. So he’d let Finn feed him, eaten more ice cream than he should have too. And regretted it but couldn’t do anything about it. Then he’d watched Finn fall asleep and texted Roman. 

Dean’s face had flashed through his mind. That small smile through the door as he disappeared out into the night. How he’d held Seth’s arms and if Seth thought hard enough about the blur of the panic attack he felt like he had checked for a pulse. He was thankful someone had because otherwise he wouldn’t be sure he was still alive.  
He finally gave in to the tiredness seeping through his body and threw himself down on the bed. He texted goodnight to Roman and flipped onto his back. He shut his eyes and was lulled into sleep by the sound of cars outside.

He woke to the sound of soft conversation and movement in the room. He opened his eyes slowly, staring around the room. 

Roman was carting bags out the room and Finn was sitting on the bed opposite talking to someone just out of sight. The voice confirmed Seth’s suspicions. Dean walked past the bed as he went to collect something.

Seth sat up slowly, muttering a good morning to whoever wanted to hear it. He barely acknowledged anyone as he rooted through his suitcase before shedding his pyjamas and tugging on something less wrinkled and slept in. He was caught up in the motions of a usual motel or hotel stay with Roman and Finn. It was only when he was attempting to tug skinny jeans up his legs that he noticed the tips of Finn’s ears turning red.

One deep breath later he was aware he’d just made Dean Ambrose rather intimately familiar with his body. 

“Did nobody think to say to stop stripping because we have guests?” Seth chuckled. He was still tired, too sleepy to think of a better biting insult in Dean’s direction as was expected of him. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to insult Ambrose.

“I did, you kept going” Dean complained with a grin at Seth. He had been glad to see most of the hickeys he’d planted on Seth had gone but wasn’t entirely upset at the opportunity to see him naked again, especially in better light. He watched Seth smile slightly before ducking down to pull his shirt on. He was also not ripping his head off, so that was fantastic. 

“He didn’t complain that loudly when your ass was out Seth, just so you know!” Finn laughed only to be hit by a pair of boxer shorts from Dean’s bag. He wretched and tossed them at Seth who let out a faked shriek and balled them up the catch Roman in the face as he entered the room. 

Roman stood, horror-struck, as he peeled the pair of shorts from his face. 

“Please tell me you didn’t just hit me in the face with a pair of your underwear, Seth” His eyebrows twitched as he tried to supress a laugh. When no one answered he reconsidered as he saw the auburn haired man move to take them back from him “Wait… Is this a pair of Dean’s underwear that you just hit me in the face with?”

“They’re clean, keep your hair on Big Dog” Ambrose smirked as he grabbed his boxers back from and shoved them back in his bag. 

Seth laughed at Dean and dropped to his knees to zip up his suitcase. Finn didn’t look surprised at the motion so Roman assumed that he and Seth had had one of the famed Bálor heart to hearts. He should probably book one of them at some point. With Dean hanging around, it looked like Finn’s schedule might get a little busy.  
Roman dropped his hand to Seth’s hair, tangling his fingers in the notably half braided hair.

“How are you feeling, Uce?” He asked as his fingers skimmed over the braids. He assumed it was Finn’s work because it was far neater than anything Seth could probably do.  
“Better, actually I take it back, I feel great” Seth reassured Roman as he stood up. Roman relinquished his hold and grabbed Seth’s suitcase and Dean’s bag. He headed out the door to the car, followed by Finn who was carrying his own bag, leaving him and Dean together.

Dean sat down on the bed next to Seth, avoiding eye contact.

“Sorry about yesterday, Seth” Dean said, reaching to touch Seth’s knee. It was oddly intimate but then again, everything about Dean was odd to Seth. He squeezed his knee before pulling away “I didn’t mean to get in your head like that, but I get it, I’m a lot”

“I’m sorry too Dean, for screaming at you and… y’know the vomiting thing” Seth shrugged. His mind lingered on the soft squeeze of his leg before he looked up and smiled “You’re a lot, Ambrose, but you also helped as best as you could so you have my grudging respect”

Dean smiled, his eyes darting to meet Seth’s. He almost shot out of his skin when Seth hugged him.

“Sorry, really” Seth muttered as he shifted back from the hug. He’d done it on impulse but it felt right. Dean raised an astonished hand to his collarbone, tapping irregularly as he stared open mouthed at the other man. Seth suddenly felt like it was the wrong thing “Oh god, I should have asked first, I’m sorry!”

Dean cut off his rambling with a laugh before pulling Seth into a tight hug.

“God Seth, you’re something else”


	8. Chapter 8

They piled into the car, convinced they’d make it to the next city before lunch. Roman drove this time, letting Finn crash out in the passenger seat. It left Seth in the back with Dean who remained grating but he didn’t despise him as much.

“Seth?”

“Mhm?”

“I’m just thinking about our rivalry” 

“Oh?” That piqued his interest. He hadn’t actually seen much of Dean wrestling apart from the promo they cut and a couple of seconds of his match with Finn. He’d been too fired up to watch too much of the match and ended up chatting with Cesaro for a good 15 minutes about CrossFit. By the time he remembered, Finn had limped into the locker room looking thoroughly tired. Then of course It had been Roman and his matches and he was too busy. He knew Finn lost, but it wasn’t billed as a fight in his favour. Finn would have been told that pre-match anyway. It would have looked good to the debut on a victory. 

“Yeah, we should probably hit the gym together and work out something so I don’t kill you” Dean commented. It earned a laugh from Roman in the front.

“Because that’s how that fight would go” Seth rolled his eyes dramatically and tugged his phone out. His eyes landed on a text message notification and he narrowed his eyes as he peered down, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

‘Thank you Sethie’

He fired back question marks before shoving it back in his pocket. No, this mystery man didn’t matter, least not now. He had to focus on himself, on Roman, Finn and even Dean. He just wanted to forget about it if he was honest. The idea had lost its appeal after Finn had told him that Roman and Dean apparently adored him. He was far more interested in working that one out.

“Is that a yes to the gym then?” Asked Dean with a lopsided grin “Can’t beat me unless you train”

“Of course it’s a yes, Ambrose” Seth sighed. Roman nearly imploded with delight at the sight of Seth being his usual bratty self. It was nice to see him teasing Dean if anything. He had a double room booked with Seth for the next hotel and he was glad that it wouldn’t involve him walking on eggshells around his best friend.

“What’s your room number for the next hotel?” Dean enquired as he looked out at the highway speeding past him. 

Roman answered for them all “Seth and I are taking up the whole of 309, Finn’s 307 but I think he’s in a single, can always crash on our couches if you want!”

“Oh, no I’m not looking for a room!” Dean laughed as he dragged his attention from the highway to the back of Roman’s head “I’m in 225, triple room with… Sami and Kevin? I was just wondering in case I needed to talk to you guys for anything”

“You can text us!” Seth said brightly “You’ll need it if you’re rooming with them, good luck making it through the night”

“Don’t really use a phone” Dean flushed red and shrugged.

“That’s fine with us, Uce, just knock” Seth mirrored his shrug as he put a headphone back in. He was aware of calling Dean his brother. The smile from Roman confirmed that he was, in fact, okay and that it wasn’t wrong for him to say it.

“Uce?” Dean questioned, looking to the back of Roman’s head for some form of answer.

“Brother… one of us, Seth, me an’ Finn if you wanna be” Roman offered.

“Sounds… good to me” Dean answered with a wide grin. It was almost too good to be true. 

 

*

When they arrived at the hotel, Seth bounded away to the hotel, leaving the group behind. He wound his way to his and Roman’s room. He felt better than he had in days. He was excited to shower off the smell of sweat and sick he’d managed to accumulate in the last day. God, he was even excited to train with Dean, to see what the guy who seemed to rile him up so much was like in the ring. Things were looking up for Seth Rollins.

The other three had held back, mostly to clear out the trash and leftovers from breakfast out of the car. Roman was quite happy to give Seth some time to himself. He’d survived the second leg of the journey, even with him sitting next to Dean in the back.

Dean sat with his legs dangling out the car as he smoked, bags piled at his feet. He watched Seth lazily as the man grabbed his stuff and bolted towards the hotel. He shut his eyes as he disappeared out of view, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“That’s not healthy, Deano” Finn smirked as he hung over the door. Dean opened his eyes and looked up. 

“Wow, Finn, I never knew! I’ll give up right away!” Dean replied, smothering his words in heavy sarcasm. Finn rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he detached himself from the door to come around to the front of Dean. He had one of his bags slung over his shoulder and the other was precariously tucked under his other arm.

“Are you two coming or are you going to debate Dean’s life choices here?” Roman asked, startling Dean who threw his cigarette down and stomped it out. He stood up in one fluid motion, grabbing his stuff. Finn raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. Dean had been quick to jump to follow Roman’s orders. 

“You should probably head up to your room Dean, Sami and Kev usually turn up a bit after us. They drive through the night” Finn suggested as they crossed towards the entrance. He shrugged in response as he turned into the reception with Finn close behind. Roman continued through the main entrance and up the stairs to floor three.

Roman counted the rooms as he passed until he hit 309. He knocked on the door, loud enough for Seth to hear. The door swung open, Seth was half dressed and soaked, having thrown himself from the shower and pulled on sweatpants to answer the door. Roman grinned as he looked down at the man in front of him. He dragged his eyes over every inch of him, drinking him in like he hadn’t seen him in months.

“Roman, you can come in, this is your room too” Seth rolled his eyes as he looked upwards “Stop staring and get your ass in here”

“Sorry, just… forgot how amazingly annoying you are” Roman teased as he stepped in the room “Nearly forgot until you opened your mouth” He added. Seth glared at him as he turned and stomped back towards the bedroom. Roman’s lips twitched as he watched the man, Seth already out of his sweats by the time he hit the tiles of the bathroom attached.   
Roman sighed as he dragged his eyes away from his friend’s… admittedly nice ass. He had things to do, probably. He followed Seth into the bedroom and sat down on the bed that Seth clearly hadn’t claimed, laying his bags down on the bed. He tucked his legs under his legs under him, leaning back against the wall. From his vantage point, he could watch the door to the bathroom.

Roman probably shouldn’t have kissed Seth in public and definitely not in front of Dean. But Seth wasn’t breathing right or looking at him so he did what came naturally. And it worked to a certain extent, if you could subtract the vomiting and shaking.

And subtract Dean Ambrose.

The man gave the current King of Annoyance, Seth, a run for his money. But he was oddly endearing. At first, he just wanted to be kind, to show some good will towards the newest member of the roster, but it was the way he’d been so easy to talk to that had made Roman entirely interested in being friends. When Dean had helped comfort Seth, a part of his brain just seemed to click perfectly into place. He liked Seth, a lot, and he… enjoyed Dean’s company. But it was the way he smiled with his whole face and his dimples… god his dimples! And his eyes! Roman could imagine drowning in the blueness. And then when Ambrose had kissed him, Roman saw stars. 

Seth and Dean now playing nice was the icing on the cake. And of course, Roman was determined to have his cake and eat it. He smiled inwardly at himself. Finn would literally kill him for thinking like that about Seth and Dean, not that Roman wanted to tell him. Roman was a rarely self-indulgent person and just this once he wanted to pretend he could have it all. 

“Roman! Are you even listening?” Seth’s voice was loud, even from behind the door.

“No?” Roman supplied as he zoned back in.

“Roman, I was trying to ask you to come to the gym with me and Dean tomorrow”

“Take Finn, I think I need to do some stuff” Roman said automatically. He felt like more time with Dean and Seth would only serve to aggravate the feelings gnawing at his gut.

“Finn isn’t the same as you” Seth shot back as the door to the bathroom opened. He leant down to pick up his discarded sweatpants before rifling through his suitcase for underwear. Roman trailed his eyes down Seth’s back following a rivulet of water from his hair travel down the golden skin. Roman wasn’t the same as Finn, what a wonderful thing to hear.

“Fine, as long as we all go out for something to eat after” Roman tried to compromise, still tracking the water drop. He was met with silence as Seth pulled his sweatpants on “And Finn too, if you want!” He added quickly. Seth narrowed his eyes and turned to face Roman, searching for something in the other man’s wide eyes.

“I just want you to come to the gym, Roman!”

“And I want to make sure you’re getting along okay!” Roman said exasperatedly. 

“You don’t have to parent me, Roman! I’m an adult!” He argued back with his hands on his hips. There was a tinge of colour on his cheeks as his eyebrows twitched.

Roman sighed internally and held open his arms for Seth.

There was a moment where Seth just stared before he gave in. He crawled into Roman’s lap and let the older man wrap him tightly against his chest. 

“Sorry” Seth sighed. He shouldn’t have snapped at Roman. He wanted Roman to be with him when he was with Dean as a form of grounding, he still felt off kilter around the other man. He did things he wouldn’t usually do around him. With Roman there, it’d be better. He just wanted Roman to stop fussing and worrying. He rubbed his face against Roman’s shirt in apology “Please come? We can go out for lunch afterwards if you want to”

“We don’t have to, baby, not if you really don’t want to” Roman spoke softly. He manoeuvred himself to lie down, tugging Seth down beside him in his arms. He could feel that feeling, love, growing in his chest like a warm fire. He pressed a kiss behind Seth’s ear, humming gently. Seth tensed before relaxing with a happy noise at the back of his throat.

“I don’t want to go to lunch with Dean, we can walk back to the hotel together or whatever, but I might murder him if we’re together in a restaurant again” Seth tilted his head to allow Roman better access and Roman was only too happy to comply with littering his neck with nips and kisses. 

“Gym then we can come straight back” Roman agreed.

*

They lay pressed together until a ringing from Roman’s phone forced them to move.

“Finn?”

“Kev an’ Sami are here in my room” Definitely not Finn’s voice and it took Roman a second to place it,

“Dean?”

“Yeah yeah, Finn’s here too but he’s trying to choose a movie, wanna come down?”

Roman pulled the phone away from his ear and brushed a kiss over Seth’s cheekbone. He quickly placed his phone on speaker, sitting up with Seth’s head curling in at his hip bone. He ran a hand through his friend’s hair, fingers gently undoing the braids Finn had expertly weaved.

“Movie with Kevin, Sami, Dean and Finn?” Roman asked as he set the phone down on his lap. He could hear the sounds of the other room echoing through the speaker. Sami was chatting away in the background and Roman could already picture the gestures he was making to go with them. He heard a laugh from Finn and a ‘Are they coming?” from what was probably Kevin.

“Yeah sure, as long as Sami and Kevin aren’t choosing” Seth said with a grin.

“Finn’s choosing!” Dean helpfully supplied. Seth nodded his approval to Roman.

“We’ll be down in five!” Roman decided as he ended the call without waiting on Dean. He unwrapped his arm from around Seth who sat up like he’d just been roused from his eternal slumber. He shuffled over to Roman’s bag, pulling a zipper of Roman’s that looked relatively clean. 

“That’s mine, uce” Roman grinned as he joined Seth to hold his zipper. He took it from his hands and wrapped it around Seth’s shoulders. He smiled warmly as the young man pushed his arms through the sleeves.

“It is in fact yours, but you seem intent on me keeping it” Seth cut back as Roman zipped it up for him, grinning stupidly at the few extra inches of the sleeves as they fell over Seth’s hands. In the back of his mind Roman knew that this wasn’t just for Seth’s comfort. It showed Seth was his. He wrapped his arms around his friend, feeling the warmth seeping through the fabric.

“You looked cold”

“I just came out of your arms, Ro, I’m practically dying of heat exhaustion” He grumbled back. He couldn’t help his smile however. Seth could never resist Roman Reigns.  
Roman gave Seth’s hair a playful tug before releasing him and pushing him to his suitcase to put shoes on. Roman waited on him at the door before they both headed out, taking the stairs down to the room Dean was sharing with Kevin and Sami. They exchanged a look as they stood outside the door, listening to the squeals and laughter inside. Seth barely got out one knock before the door was wrenched open by an amused Finn.

“C’mon in lads!”

He grabbed Seth by the wrist and tugged him into the room, straight into an open armed Sami who gave his friend a quick hug before moving onto Roman. Kevin, thankfully, gave a wave. Seth was pretty sure he would never survive a hug from Kevin Owens. Dean looked up from the couch, his hand buried in a bag of chips, to grin up at Seth and Roman as they entered. 

Seth ended up on the floor wedged between Dean and Roman’s legs. Finn was lying across the floor on his back, head on Seth’s lap while Kevin and Sami had managed to squeeze onto the couch with Roman and Dean. It was no mean feat to fit all six of them in the room made for three.

Finn had chosen some horror movie that he’d been carrying about in his bags for most of the month. He’d been trying to get them together to watch it, but Seth, Kevin and Sami usually vetoed it in favour of something more comedic. But it they had given in tonight to finally get it over with.

He threw himself into watching the movie, face resting against the side of Roman’s leg lazily. He felt a hand run though his hair and he lazily pushed his head into it. The hand tangled in Seth’s hair, undoing the rest of the braids. 

“You guys want popcorn?” Sami almost sung cheerily as the sound of the small microwave opening broke through the hushed silence of a tense scene. Seth jumped and the hand darted away. Finn scoffed, muttering something about Seth being scared which earned him a tiny smack to the back of the head from Seth. Finn stuck out his tongue and sat up. He shifted back beside Seth on Dean’s side, somehow managing to contort himself into a comfortable position.

“If you’re making some, we’ll have some!” Dean answered for the group

“Can do! I’ll just throw another packet in so we have enough” The room was soon filled with the smell of popcorn and the sound of Sami’s humming as he rifled through the cupboards for a bowl.

Finn sighed and reached for the remote on his lap to turn it down, giving in.

“It’s not that great a movie” he conceded. Seth’s lips twitched as he wrapped his arm around his friend’s shoulders. Roman chucked to himself and Finn turned to shoot the big man a look “Shut up! It sounded good”

“It sounded like every horror movie ever” Seth groaned and lifted the box to read the plot synopsis out in his most obnoxious announcer voice.

“Finn! Why don’t you tell us a story or something?” Dean suggested. Finn looked askance as he looked upwards towards the smiling man. Dean looked taken aback for a moment before continuing “Aw, c’mon man, you’re, like, Irish! You’re meant to have some stories, like fairy stories and all that?”

Finn aimed an elbow at Dean’s shin, folding his arms “You don’t just tell jokes about the fair folk, Dean, they’re a special folk! You have to respect them!” That sparked everyone’s interest. Finn seemed to have grown up in a whole different world compared to most of them. His childhood was filled with folklore and legends. The last time Seth had heard anything remotely spooky was when one of his friends had told them there was a satanic cult in one of the fields outside of town. There wasn’t of course, but it had kept him up for weeks. Finn seemed to find solace in the weird.

“You may as well tell them something, uce, you have us hanging on your every word for this one” Roman mediated. Sami and Kevin gave their approval as they passed the bowl of popcorn down towards Finn who sighed and thought for a moment.

“It was always your nan or your grandad that told you all the stories” Finn reminisced as he closed his eyes. He dug his hand into the popcorn bowl before shoving a handful in his mouth “You never step in a faerie ring else the fair folk might just keep you and you never accept their gifts because they always require payment” He mused as he passed the popcorn to Seth.

“Right, right, don’t joke about the fairies, bad things will happen, got it Bálor”

“Seth! Don’t!” Finn chastised him before continuing “Banshees are pretty cool though, I knew some lads back home who had a family banshee”  
“You say that like it’s normal” Seth grinned earning a huffy sigh from Finn. 

“I think it’s cool” Kevin said quietly.

“I’m not sayin’ it’s not cool Kev, just a family banshee isn’t exactly… Well, I don’t have a family banshee” Seth raised his eyebrows as he defended his point “Go on, Finn! Tell us the story then!”

“Nothin much t’ tell, apart from one night one of the boys heard a scream outside and looked out his window and there was the banshee” He shrugged “They’re meant to be omens of death and misfortune, it makes sense they’d track a family. He broke his leg a few weeks later playing foot- soccer in the park”

Dean’s eyes were wide as he leant forward on his elbows to listen to Finn as he spoke. Roman couldn’t help but smile at the messy haired man who seemed to be taking Finn’s whole story to heart. Roman was always interested in his friend’s superstitions but he had learned to take it all with a pinch of salt, it seemed like coincidence half the time, though he’d never say to Finn. Seth however, was more than happy to make his feelings on the matter known. 

“I think it sounds like a coincidence, Finn”

“Aw come on Seth, you’re no fun!” Sami reprimanded Seth with a roll of his eyes. 

“Yeah, Sethie! It’s meant to sound like a coincidence so people” Dean gave him a pointed look before he continued “People like you never believe in it!” Dean’s cheeks were tinged pink as he talked, excitably motioning with his hands.

Seth audibly groaned “God, hes a conspiracy nut”

Sami and Kevin were far too excited at the prospect of someone else to talk to with about conspiracies to even challenge Seth. He felt Roman pat his shoulder as a signal that maybe it was time for them to clear out. He clambered to his feet and scattered out of Roman’s way so he didn’t hinder the bigger man as he got up. 

“You guys are leaving?” Dean suddenly was pulled from his world of conspiracy theories and admittedly cool Irish folklore. He looked disappointed as Seth shuffled towards the door, hands stuffed in the pockets of the slightly too large zipper.

“Yeah, we were going back to our room” Roman shrugged, earning wolf whistles from Sami and Finn. Kevin seemed to be holding back laughter as he caught sight of Seth’s face turning red. Roman ploughed through the eyebrow wiggles from Sami “Then we’re going shopping”

Dean looked almost as red as Seth but he shrugged and turned his attention back to talking about how he swore he’d seen aliens once when he was driving down a lonely road somewhere in the south “See you both later then!”

Roman and Seth slid out the room and out into the real world, leaving the four other men to their next movie and weird conspiracies.

“Finn, please tell me they’re finally together” Sami sighed as he stretched out over the top of Kevin who patted the top of his head gently. Finn scratched his neck, casting a look at Dean before shaking his head “Oh come on! Seth was in Rome’s zipper! Are they both totally oblivious?”

“Roman and Seth are into each other?” Dean enquired, acting as innocent as possible. Kevin sniggered and Sami nearly choked with laugher. Finn hung his head quickly, repressing the smile threatening to show on his face.

“Oh yeah man, you haven’t noticed? Totally in love”

“They’re fucking.” Kevin stated matter-of-factly

“That too!” Sami added cheerfully.

He knew that Roman had feelings for Seth, but certainly not the inverse too. And Roman had said they didn’t, no, they couldn’t be having sex. Although, Dean felt like Roman had said that for Seth’s benefit. He lapsed into silence for a moment and he swore he could hear a cry that wasn’t from the TV. Dean paled and Finn was the only one to notice.


	9. Chapter 9

‘Sorry for everything’  
‘I shouldn’t even be texting you, Rollins’

 

Seth was smarter than this ‘Mox’ gave him credit for. He never got texts when he was out in public with anyone, it was always when he was tucked away in private. Like the guy knew where he was. Which meant that he was someone who knew Seth. Horrifying but not the end of the world if Seth wanted to hook up again. After all, he and Roman had worked out everything despite the feelings that Seth could feel brewing.

He’d narrowed down the list of potential suspects as well.

He had been out with them that night. Though, Seth was sure most people had been out that night. 

He was on the road with them.

Seth hadn’t had his number before then which cut out most of the roster.

He was an inconsistent texter. He was probably busy most of the time training or doing other important things like most of them.

And now he wasn’t interested in him.

Seth rolled onto his stomach in the dark, his phone dimly illuminating the room. He could hear Roman snoring gently from the other bed.

‘How come you don’t want to? Thought you wanted to do it again’

Seth furrowed his brow as he stared down at the screen. Read. Typing…. typing… typing. His stomach tightened. Waiting on someone texting felt like hell.

‘I do. I can’t though Sethie’

‘Why?’ That wasn’t an explanation or an answer to his question.

‘You and Roman deserve to be happy’  
‘I don’t want to get in the way’

Seth leant forward to stifle a groan in his pillow, locking his phone for a brief moment. He glanced over to make sure Roman was still asleep, his chest rising and falling equally. He was transfixed for a moment before he turned back to his phone.

‘Me and Rome aren’t a thing?????’

‘You’d need to convince me otherwise, Sethie’

He put his phone back onto charge before rolling onto his back. The many question marks probably weren't convincing in any way. He stared transfixed at the ceiling, listening to Roman’s breathing. He fell asleep slowly, his mind reeling with Mox and Roman.

*

Dean grumbled and tossed himself face first onto the wood flooring at Finn’s feet. He lay there, arms under his chin, staring aimlessly into the distance. Finn lightly tapped at his ribs with his foot and tapped the couch beside him.

“There’s space up here Deano”

Finn hadn’t expected Dean to show up so early in the morning at his hotel door. He’d envisioned that Sami and Kevin had just got a bit too lovey-dovey for Dean’s liking and he’d just left, but Dean had his gym bag and was fully dressed. Maybe he was one of those people that went for really early runs. Finn wasn’t going to press the subject; it probably wasn’t that deep. He pulled the blanket he’d taken from his bed tighter around him and watched the figure stretched out in front of him. 

Dean shook his head then rolled onto his back, hand scratching across his collarbone lazily. He fixed Finn with a look, blue eyes meeting their counterparts in Finn’s. He’d come to the conclusion that if Seth and Roman were the root of his problems, then Finn would be the solution. Like how you were supposed to drink milk after something really hot, not that he was saying that Finn was a dairy product. He shook his head as the analogy broke down. Mostly. Roman and Seth were still really hot.

“Finn?”

“Go ahead, mate, I’m listening”

Dean took a deep breath, eyes refusing to budge from Finn’s as he tried to work out how to word his question “I apologised to someone last night, for doing something to them in the past”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Finn questioned as he sat forward a little more. Dean shrugged slightly “Dean, man, you need to explain a bit more before I give you any form of opinion on the matter”

“I did something but I’m not really sorry for it, it was a good idea at the time but now it feels wrong, and I’ve done things to fuck it up further” He sat up cross legged and leant his head on Finn’s lap like a scruffy dog. Finn laid a hand in the messy hair to give Dean the go ahead to continue “But here’s the thing, I don’t want to stop, it feels right to be doing what I’m doing, I feel like I have to”

“Like fate?” Finn suggested, brushing a hand over the fluff of hair above Dean’s ear. He attempted to weave the hair there into some form of a braid, turning to it like a reflex “I don’t… I feel like no matter the situation you need to do what you feel is right, you’d regret it if you didn’t”

Dean had a lot of regrets.

“What if that messes up something for someone else?”

Finn pulled a face that Dean couldn’t see, his mind ticking over to try to work out exactly what Dean met. His mind caught on the edges of memories of the day before, Dean’s willingness to follow Roman, his questions about Seth and Roman together. He frowned. This didn’t seem good.

“Dean is this… Dean I'm not as oblivious as the rest of them you know” He trailed off as the person under him tensed “If this is about Roman and Seth, you need to be very careful with what you’re doing, I still say follow your heart and all that but I don’t want any of you idiots getting hurt”

They lapsed into silence, Finn’s fingers twisting through the soft mess. Dean made a quiet noise, shutting his eyes “Thanks, Finn” 

“No problem, Deano” He mumbled back softly before relinquishing his grasp “Now, come on, dude, sit up on the couch and we’ll see what’s on TV”

Dean smiled widely and drew himself up onto the couch beside Finn who kicked his legs up over Dean’s lap to fully relax. They curled up together while Finn flicked through channels aimlessly. Dean made him stop on a ghost hunting show and Finn was only too happy to tune out to something stupid, he loved folklore but he wasn’t sure how far he could get behind the shouting men on the TV. Dean however, seemed to definitely enjoy it. 

“I’d love to go ghost hunting” Dean decided with a grin as the show ended “Like, just to see how spooky things could get, it’d be fun”

“We could go together sometime if we have enough time anywhere” Finn suggested. Dean’s eyes lit up and he leant up on Finn’s legs with a disbelieving look “It could be fun; besides you need someone with you”

Dean laughed and nudged Finn with his elbow “I can take care of myself, Finn!”

“Trust me, I’m looking out for the ghosts”

*

When Roman got Seth awake, he just managed to force some breakfast into the younger man before there was a knock at the door. Seth slumped forward on his arms as Roman got up, picking at the breakfast Roman had made with his fork. He liked Roman’s cooking but he just couldn’t take it right at that moment. Roman crossed to the door, opening it slowly to look out into the hall. 

Dean stood with his gym bag slung over his shoulder, slightly slumped in the hallway. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a baggy shirt, his hair mussed up. He looked, in Roman’s opinion, quite adorable.

“Morning Deano!” Roman opened the door wider. He could hear Seth groan from behind him as he cast a glance over towards the doorway and then immediately threw his head back down “Ready for the gym then?”

“Yeah, I, Uh… is Seth ready?” Dean asked as he looked up at the bigger man. The corners of Roman’s lips quirked upwards.

“I’m not his mom, Dean, come in” Roman laughed and moved out the way. Dean lifted a hand to wave at Seth who was staring rather hopelessly at a plate of half eaten eggs and bacon. Dean felt remotely guilty about his state but then again, he wasn’t doing much better himself. “Seth, you can at least say hello!” Roman muttered as he walked over to sit on the seat next to Seth. He pushed the plate back towards Seth and muttered something lowly in his ear.

“Not his mom? Sure seems like it, Ro” Dean tried his best to perk up. He gave his best attempt at a grin as he threw himself down in the seat opposite Seth. Roman looked up to give Dean a small smile “Hey Sethie, good night, sweetheart?”

Seth looked up just enough to give him an eye roll that just about detached his retinas.

“No, Dean, I did not have a ‘Good Night’” He snapped. Roman patted his back gently and watched as he shovelled another small forkful into his mouth before giving up. He pushed his plate towards Dean with an apologetic look “Sorry for snapping, do you want this? ‘m not hungry”

“Seth…” Roman said softly as his friend got to his feet.

“I’m going to get ready Roman, calm down” Seth rubbed at his eyes as he crossed the room to find his clothes before disappearing towards the entrance to the bathroom.

Dean gingerly picked up the fork Seth had been eating with, giving Roman a look. He nodded his go ahead and he tucked in, grinning appreciatively. Roman trained his eyes on the door of the bathroom, folding his arms. He seemed intent on staring out the door like it’d kicked a puppy in front of him.

“Roman, you don’t have laser vision” Dean reached a hand up to tap the man’s upper arm “what’s going on in that head of yours buddy?”

“Seth didn’t sleep well, he’s not hungry either..."

“Maybe don't read too much into it, Ro? Maybe he’s just not hungry like he said” He asked before taking a huge forkful of food into his mouth. Roman looked away from the door for a second to smile at Dean.

“Yeah but...” He shifted his gaze back to the door.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Romeo” Dean gave him a lopsided smile before finishing off his plate of food. He lifted his plate and headed to the small kitchen to wash the plate. Roman sighed and rubbed across where Dean had touched him, swallowing as the door to the bedroom finally opened. 

Seth strolled across to his bags, now completely dressed. He still looked tired, but he’d managed to clean up a little. He threw his gym bag onto the sofa. He glanced up at Roman and tried to give him his most promising smile. 

“Thanks for your breakfast, Seth!” Dean called as he dried the plate and put it away. Seth pulled a look more suited to looking at the bottom of someone’s shoe as Dean hopped up onto the counter beside the sink. 

“No problem, Dean, Roman’s not a bad cook, huh?” He tried his best to be friendly before adding “And don’t sit on the counter, that’s so unhygienic” The statement made Dean laugh, which wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened in Seth’s opinion. His laugh was almost infectious. Almost.

“Props to the chef, and no, Seth, ‘m stuck up here until someone drags me off” He leant forwards, his hands tucked under his chin. Seth’s eyebrow twitched slightly before he hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.

“Fine, we’ll leave you then”

*

A slightly incredulous and grumpy Finn had thrown the keys to the car at Roman without a word before shutting the door unceremoniously in the trio’s faces. 

“Oh someone’s cranky, wonder what’s up with him” Seth scratched his head and peered at the door as Roman pocketed the car keys without a second glance towards Finn’s occupied room “We’re grilling him tonight, Ro”

“Tension probably” Roman stated flatly as he hooked an arm around his arm around Seth’s shoulders. “Maybe someone can persuade him to go out for a bit” He punctuated his sentence with a pointed grin at Dean who simply grinned at the floor and sidled a tiny bit further away from Roman as they approached the stairs. 

“Alcohol, Dean Ambrose and Finn Bálor does sound tempting… can you imagine it?” Dean turned the thought over in his mind as they hit the second floor, his eyes looking everywhere but at the closeness of Roman and Seth. He didn’t need to look to know Seth was horrified at the thought. 

“Images I did not need Ambrose”

“Aw, you’re killing me, Seth” Dean looked up as the staircase seemed to level off in front of him into the ground floor. His lips curled upwards into a smirk “Though if you’re looking for better images, I can give you a few more for when you and Roman are pent up in that room”

A small spike of fear registered in Seth’s brain as he rolled his eyes dramatically “Anything with you in it would never work”

“Didn’t imply I was in it, but if you want something good-” He fired back. Roman smacked him lightly over the back of his head.

“Save it for the ring”

*

The gym that the company had rented was in a nice area, not too far from the hotel. Seth had split off from Dean and Roman with a manic expression as they entered the gym. His eyes had fallen on a poster that proudly plastered the time for the gym’s CrossFit classes across it in bold font.

Roman chuckled at his friend’s eagerness to do something he was almost irrationally passionate about. It wasn’t his forte but Seth was like an old wine taster when he came out of a class, critiquing and appreciating. He didn’t get the hype but he’d gladly let Seth talk for as long as he wanted.

Dean shot an inquisitive look at the retreating Seth, looking to Roman for guidance.

“He’ll be an hour at most, he’s a… uh… he’s our CrossFit Jesus

Dean filed that under the surprising facts about Seth Rollins tab in his brain.

He stuck close to Roman, trading short jokes and spotting each other when needed. Dean’s lungs felt on fire as he did what seemed like the millionth rep. He almost admitted outright that Finn had been right about smoking being an awful habit, but Dean refused to give in that easily. Dean pushed the thought to the back of his mind, attempting to focus entirely on the pleasant burning sensation winding its way up his arms. He was quite content to stare upwards at the handsome face of Roman Reigns while he worked out.  
Roman called for the end of the set just as Dean’s arms felt just about ready to give out. He’d been watching the sweat beading on his forehead under the messy hair and had hardly realised that Dean looked worse for wear. By the time he had dragged his eyes from the bridge of Dean’s nose, the other man was already done. Dean sat up on the bench, pushing his hair back into some semblance of neatness. Though, Dean’s hair had never been considered neat.

“You good, brother?” 

“Yeah, I’m good, switch?” 

Roman opened his mouth then shook his head as he glanced towards the open door. Seth looked glorious as he made his way across the room. He didn’t look tired anymore, not in the no sleep sense at least, everything about him was renewed.

“Good workout, Sethie?” Dean asked as he stood up to stretch. His eyes never left Seth, trying to absorb the entirety of the glowing creature before him. He ended up staring intently at the tiny gap in Seth’s front teeth, doing his best to avoid eyes and lips or anything too intimately Seth.

“Oh yeah, great fun! Cesaro will love this place when he gets here!” He grinned before glancing at Dean who seemed to be having a staring contest with something in the middle of his face “Uh… how about you two?”

“Good” Roman said shortly as he managed to avert his gaze to Dean who was seemingly having the same issue as Roman had been having “Just a warmup then nothing special”   
Dean finally managed to tear his eyes from Seth to turn to look around the room, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards at the sight of the ring through an open archway into the next room. He spun back on his heel, raising his eyebrows with a dangerous smile.

“You up to practice, Seth?”

*

Roman couldn’t deny the unbelievable chemistry the two seemed to have in the ring, it was on par with him and Seth. The spots they were practicing together turned into a full on match, Rollins refusing to give into anything Ambrose threw at him. 

They were relentless with each other. 

Roman had taken up residence ringside, eyes following the action nervously. The viciously fast pace they had set was concerning, more chances for things to go wrong in his eyes. The two broke for a moment after Dean had somehow managed to roll Seth into a pin and Roman had started to call it like a mock referee. He was up on the apron and then in the ring, slamming his hand on the mat to count. Seth kicked out at two and rolled onto his back, chest heaving with exertion. 

Dean managed to scrabble back to his feet and hunched over on the ropes, leaning towards Roman with a smile and a quick wink that Roman barely processed.

“You alive there, Seth? If you could just stay down that would be lovely, sweetheart” He called as he turned to look at the other wrestler. Seth threw up a weak middle finger in response before turning his head to look over in their direction.

“Very alive, Ambrose” He muttered back as he pushed himself up on his elbows. Roman was impressed that they had both made it more than 5 minutes “I don’t stay down, fuck off” Roman made a low noise as Seth got to his feet. Seth looked worse for wear, but Dean’s words betrayed him more than his outward stance. Roman rolled away to the apron, ducking under the ropes. He didn’t need to be caught in it. 

Dean raised his eyebrows and gestured at Seth with a grin “This guy, Jesus Christ”

Speaking to Roman gave Seth enough time to collect himself and grab Ambrose. Dean let out a surprised sound as Seth seemed to tower above him as he dragged him onto the mat with very little dignity. The shock was enough to send sparks through Ambrose and send his blood rushing elsewhere as Seth pressed him against the mat.

“Seth. Move” Dean hissed with as much threat he could muster as he tried his best to pull Rollins by the hips just that little bit higher on his stomach. He managed to get him onto his stomach, restricting his breathing a little but that was a far safer option “Seth I’m serious, fuckin’ move”

“Why? Did I hurt you, sweetheart? Take a bad bump from just that?” Seth asked with a smile that certainly didn’t reach his eyes. Dean shook his head before attempting to scramble out from under the other man. Seth, sensing the shift of their weights, leant backwards sitting firmly onto Dean’s hips. He paled as he realised exactly why Dean was so insistent.   
Seth had never moved so fast in his life as he rolled straight off of Dean. The man beside him groaned in embarrassment and rolled onto his stomach, shoving his face in the mat. It wasn’t that it hadn’t happened before, in fact, Dean could probably think of half a dozen times it had happened. It was all adrenaline and he forced himself to think ‘not a big deal’. But it was a huge deal. It was Seth fucking Rollins that had done it.

“You two all okay?” Roman asked, frowning as he got back into the ring. Seth snorted in response as he leant up on his knees. And then Seth was laughing actually, oh god no, he was giggling and it was all okay because of that. 

“Seth Rollins I’m going to dismember you” Dean groaned as he worked up the courage to roll onto his back. ‘Fuck it, you’re a big boy, we’ve all seen it before’ The voice in his head chastised him for being so immature. 

“Yeah and pop a boner while doing it” Seth cut back, as he supported himself with one arm, the laughter growing stronger. 

Roman looked confused for a brief moment before fully processing Seth’s words. His mouth opened as if he was going to say something before he thought better of it and closed it, attempting a smile. Seth obviously found it funny so that was at least comforting. 

“Well, what can I say, I’m into that kinda thing”

“Fucking gross” Seth grinned, tongue darting out over the top of his bottom lip “Can’t even try to pin you without your dumbass getting turned on”

“You’re clearly into it, otherwise you’d drop it” Dean shot back. His eyes fell on Seth’s tongue and his mind went all sorts of places that certainly didn’t help him in any way. He dropped his eyes to focus on his own fingers as they nervously tapped a pattern on his knee.

“Jesus, you two are awful, can’t you stop fighting like cats for one minute?” Roman groaned as he sat down next to Seth who leant gently on his thigh. Dean scrunched up his face as he managed to work up enough confidence to scoot closer to the other men, willing his hard-on away with as much mental power as he could muster in the presence of Seth and Roman.

“Takes one to know one, Reigns” Dean teased, sticking his tongue out. Roman’s face twitched as he fought the urge to smile “Besides, Seth’s making it a big deal, like he’s a fuckin’ saintly martyr, Saint Seth, patron of never seeing a dick in his life” Dean rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the other man. “But I’m gonna assume you’re experienced in the field of sitting on laps”

“Fuck off Dean, if you’d just told me outright it wouldn’t have happened” Seth flushed red and Dean knew he’d struck a nerve. Even Reigns looked slightly hurt. Seth pulled away from Roman and folded his arms like a huffy child “I just didn’t think it was that impressive that I had to scream”

“You have a stick up your ass, sweetheart” Dean growled lowly in response. Seth Rollins couldn’t beat him. Colour flushed Seth’s cheeks in a way that Dean would have normally found endearing if Seth wasn’t grinding on his nerves constantly. He was far more agreeable when he wasn’t talking.

“Don’t start me, Ambrose, you and your little fantasies” He warned in response and Dean could feel his temper flaring. Just like it had after the taping when Seth slammed him back. He felt almost powerful as he leant forward with his worst smirk, about to go in for the killer blow.

“Dean. Leave Seth alone. Now. Seth, likewise” Roman had one hand on the flat of Dean’s chest and the other somewhere in Seth’s hair. Dean took a deep breath as he met Seth’s eyes. There was so much fire still there in those pretty eyes. One… Dean could imagine them heavy lidded, Two… they were all pupil staring up at Roman, Three… It was Seth now who looked like he wanted to punch his lights out. He blinked before looking to Roman who nodded.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go shower up” He muttered as he managed to scoot from the ring, adjusting his sweatpants as he attempted half jog towards the changing rooms, picking up his towel as he moved. Silence fell throughout the room. Roman gave Seth an accusatory look before following the other man out.

*

It felt like a punch in the gut and Seth wasn’t sure why. Clearly Roman was headed out on damage control, but it wasn’t his fault. That was fine. Dean and him seemed to fight like cat and dog with their teeth bared. Roman had seen it first hand and he certainly didn’t need to… look after Dean. He was an adult, just like the rest of them. His stomach twisted slightly at his malice.

No, it wasn’t fine.

He lay down in the ring as he attempted to gather his thoughts. He wasn’t sure why it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t unusual for something like that to happen. He’d taken it well, all things considering. But Dean had insisted he was martyring himself for the boner cause and he wasn’t going to… take it. Especially the lap comment. God he could have punched his lights out for just that. Dean didn’t know what he was saying anyway but it would have hurt Roman. While they could mess around with other people, it always came back to just two. Dean had implied something that was just out of the question but he didn’t know.

He assessed himself. He was getting on with Dean fine until then. The other man had no clue about the impact and it wasn’t his fault. He’s basically… called him out for sleeping around. There were small bubbles of panic rising in Seth’s stomach but not enough to worry him. He was, he noted with a sinking feeling, worried about Dean. He’d seen the flicker of indecision in Dean’s eyes as he’d talked, seen the way he was about to speak before all the fight had been taken out of him by Roman. He seemed to have the same reaction that Seth had around Roman. The sparks of rage had died there and then, instead it was a reflective look he’d taken as he met Seth’s eyes before submitting and rolling out the ring. Something he knew from the body language that Dean wasn’t used to. Or that he didn’t want to do anymore.

He cursed himself and clambered out the ring, chasing after Roman and Dean. He’d apologise. He didn’t need Roman to prompt him this time. The guilt had settled heavy in his gut as he picked up his towel to wipe the sweat from his face and drape over his shoulders. He skipped his cool down, it didn’t exactly feel appropriate to leave anyone waiting. He took his time to the changing room though, glad the company had rented out most of the place. If they hadn’t, Seth and Dean’s display could have been news worthy.

He had to stop overreacting around Dean.

*

He quietly opened the door and stopped in his tracks. 

Roman had his lips pressed against Dean’s own, deliberate and slow in a way that screamed ‘calming mechanism’ to Seth. He’d been on the receiving end of this type of Roman more than once. Seth’s mind did a flip when he saw Dean moving back into the kiss, balling his hands in Roman’s shirt. There was a glorious twinge of half-jealousy, half-curiosity and… oh god, was that… arousal? 

Dean made a greedy noise that went straight to the dark parts of Seth’s mind. In a half daze, he shut the door enough to hide his presence. The possessive part of his brain was screaming ‘yours’ with every second, but the rest of his body and mind was fighting to watch. Roman pulled away to mutter something lowly to Dean, whose face lit up with a smile that Seth couldn’t help but stare at. Dean leant in to drag his mouth across Roman’s collarbone. The action jarred Roman for a second, something that Seth always strove to cause, enough to make Roman drag him upwards for one more crushing kiss. It was brutal and all teeth. There was nothing sweet about it apart from the way Roman cradled Dean’s face. He dragged his thumb over the red lips as he pulled away before moving to his bags.

Seth stood, struck. It felt dirty to watch them like this, through the half cracked door. Seth felt dirty for the first time in forever. Like he’d interrupted something that wasn’t his to interrupt. Like Roman wasn’t his.

He berated himself as he straightened up. Roman wasn’t his, that was that. If he liked Dean that way, he couldn’t have any moral qualms with either of them. Besides, Seth had hooked up with someone, he wasn’t going to act holier-than-thou. It hurt but he was curious too. Curious about Dean, curious about why his best friend wouldn’t have told him. The dull hurt was the possessive part of his brain begging for consideration. He wanted the attention Roman was giving Dean, wanted it to be him making noises for him and begging. 

He took a deep breath before walking through the door. It was quiet as he went straight to Dean whose whole body seemed to stiffen as Seth approached. 

“Sorry” He said, tipping his head towards the ground.

“Me too, Sethie” Dean replied, voice gravely and low, tinged with nervousness. When he realised Seth wasn’t going to shout at him, he relaxed. 

He went back to getting changed, leaving Seth to find his things and echo their actions. He realised with a sickening jolt that he couldn’t even look at Roman without feeling something painful. He felt a large hand graze his side gently, seeking permission to find a safe space on his hip, but he ignored it. A growing idea that he was just being used was worming its way into his brain. He loved Roman, but here it was, plain as day. Roman didn’t love him back. That was enough for Seth. Panic swelled in his chest but he could shift it away until later. When he’d probably call Finn or Sami, hell, in reality he’d probably call Kevin to come help him. To stroke his back gently and tell him that he was being stupid. 

Kevin was good for telling him he was over reacting. Sami and Finn would just validate him.

He needed to get realistic.

Roman wasn’t his, Dean could do what he pleased, and Seth could keep his mouth shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't expect this chapter to take so long to put out but I've been pretty busy. Thankfully though, I only really had to do a couple of minor changes! Hopefully the next chapter will return to the weekly-ish schedule I had going for a bit.


	10. Chapter 10

Seth survived the next few days. Barely. He found himself trying to ignore Roman and stay out of the way of Ambrose which was all harder than he expected. He spent most of his time with Kevin and Sami if he wasn’t at the gym with Finn or Cesaro. He did everything to stay out of his room before he had to go back, even crashing on the couches of whoever happened upon him pacing the lobby at 2am. Even so, there were at least two nights he ended up staring at the ceiling of the living area of the room he and Roman had in the darkness instead of going to his bed before getting up to go somewhere else. He convinced himself in the semi-darkness that he wasn’t hurting but even though the dull ache in his chest wouldn’t disappear. 

Roman tried to speak with him. Tried being the operative word. He managed to wrangle one word answers from him but nothing else. Eventually he pulled back and stopped trying to engage him even though it hurt. Clearly Seth was in a mood about something and was taking it out on him and giving him the silent treatment. He could hear Seth stomping back into room some nights and a small part of him wanted to pick him up and force him into a bed. He didn’t though, he didn’t need Seth any madder than he seemed to be. He missed his best friend, but he knew better than to push him, and besides he had Finn giving him updates and Dean to keep him company.

Dean.

He had taken to the company like a fish to water. He’d got to hang out with a lot of the wrestlers and most of them were remarkably okay. Roman was his company of choice though. He didn’t see much of Seth, no matter how hard he tried to contrive a situation where they’d be in a room together. Despite how much they argued, Dean liked Seth, liked having someone who challenged him. He felt a certain degree of guilt too. He noticed that Seth was avoiding them all. He had seen Seth slipping into different rooms late at night when he was pacing the corridors of the hotel unable to sleep. He wasn’t one to judge the bed sharing habits of anyone, not anymore.

He spent most of his day with Roman. The big dog clearly wasn’t at his best and Dean knew it had something to do with Seth and, though Dean tried to rationalise it, himself. 

*

Finn was moderately worried. Even more so when Kevin grabbed him in passing as he was on the way to the gym.

“Finn, need to talk” Kevin said lowly, his hand tightening on Finn’s bicep. The Irishman nodded and let Kevin drag him into his room.

“Is this about Seth?” He looked around the room nervously for his friend, assuming the worst “Where is he?”

“Sami and Seth are out on a run, he crashed with some of the girls last night” He released Finn and folded his arms “It’s been 4 days, Finn, he’s hardly sleeping and he’s pushing himself all the time at the gym”

“Is he eating right?”

“Don’t know, he doesn’t spend meals with us, disappears off somewhere, hell he doesn’t stay here” Kevin paused before continuing “Did something happen between him and Roman? He won’t talk to us about what’s going on, he stormed off last time we asked”

Their eyes met then, both of their eyebrows furrowed in worry. Finn was first to fold, conceding “No idea man, Roman seems like Roman” He chewed on his bottom lip “But it’s Roman and Dean that Seth’s avoiding so it must be something to do with them” A cold guilt flooded Finn’s stomach. Follow your heart no longer seemed like such good advice.

“You’re their… best friend or something, Finn… you find out” He grumbled lowly before pushing Finn back towards the door. Their conversation was clearly over. As much as Kevin tried to hide it, he was a huge teddy bear who was actually worried about his friends. He reached out to pat Finn’s back “Just, lemme know what happens”

“Will do, Kev”

*

“Wanna get coffee and some lunch?” Sami asked as finally Seth stopped running, leaning heavily on a half wall. Sami was all for going for a run with his friend, as long as he got to down something caffeinated afterwards. Seth made a dismissive noise as he stretched out his leg, causing Sami to frown “I’ll try that again, we’re getting coffee and lunch”

Seth gave in with a weak nod and allowed Sami to spirit him towards a homely looking café. He forced him into a table in the corner before making his way to the counter to order. Seth had hardly slept the night before, Charlotte and Becky had graciously taken him in but the cramped couch had done no wonders for his knee. He hunched over the table, closing his eyes. The workouts helped take his mind off of everything mentally but his body was starting to protest the long runs.

“You are going to kill yourself working like this” Sami said lightly with a forced smile as he dropped a sandwich and a cup of coffee down in front of Seth “Get that in your system and don’t tell me you’re not hungry”

Sami sat down opposite Seth watching as the other man finally raised the cup to his lips and took a brutally long sip. Satisfied that Seth wasn’t going to act up, he began his own lunch. He’d interrogate his friend after he’d relaxed. 

“Thanks for coming on my run with me, Sami” Seth said as he dropped his empty cup down onto the table “You didn’t have to you know”

“No problem, Seth, I just thought you we’re getting lonely” He shrugged as he wiped crumbs from his shirt. Seth laughed slightly as he picked at his sandwich. Sami wasn’t wrong, it has been lonely doing afternoon runs on his own. At least when he went to CrossFit he had Cesaro “Besides, I needed to talk to you anyway”

“Oh?”

“Look, I’m not trying to get in your business, but I’m… Kev and I, we’re worried about you man” Sami scratched his beard lightly as he planned out his next words. Seth stopped picking at his food, looking over at Sami nervously.

“Look, Sami…”

“No, Seth, we’re like actually worried”

“There’s nothing to be worried about!”

“It’s just… you and Roman… and you’re not sleeping in your room really and you’re not even sleeping a lot actually and-“

“Sami there’s nothing wrong!” He cut in sharply, earning him a stern look.

“There clearly is Seth, you’re not exactly subtle! You’re pacing the lobby at like 3 in the morning like a lost dog waiting on someone to take you in! You won’t talk to your best friends and you won’t talk to us about it”

“Fine! Sure theres something wrong! But you’re right! I don’t want to talk to you about it” He muttered before digging in his pocket for money to give Sami for everything. Sami sighed, he couldn’t force Seth to talk to him, and he certainly didn’t want to give him a reason to stop talking to him too. He accepted the money from Seth giving him a winning smile. Seth managed to smile back as they stood up.

“You’re right, you don’t need to talk to me! Just please… take care of yourself, Seth, Finn would kill me if I let anything happen to you”

“I’ll try, Sami, no promises”

He felt like an asshole. He knew for a fact that he was being an asshole. He also knew for a fact that Sami only wanted to help and he briefly thought about telling him about what was bugging him but there was no point. Sami would only go straight to Finn or worse, Roman. It wasn’t even that big a deal, it was only because he didn’t like Dean, not because he was jealous.

“You coming in our car or are you goin’ with Finn?” Sami asked as they made their way back to the hotel. Seth chewed his lip and shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets.  
“You, if you have room, don’t want to be a bother to you and Kev”

“You’re never a bother, Seth, just be warned, Kev’s driving” Sami joked, poking Seth in the side. Seth actually managed a laugh, which cheered Sami up even more. He skipped up the street cheerily beside his still grumpy looking friend. Even so, Seth seemed to be in better spirits than before and was actually casually conversing with Sami.

“I trust Kevin’s driving!” He grinned back, knocking Sami gently.

“You haven’t been in a car with him for long enough, Seth” Sami groaned as he bumped off of a store wall before jumping away ahead of Seth. He bounced on the balls of his heels forcing Seth to chase after him with a cheeky smile. By the time they made it back to the hotel, Seth was breathless but god, he felt happy.

*

He parted ways with Sami, making sure he knew when to meet up with them, before making his way up to his room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that Roman wasn’t in and busied himself with making sure he had a change of clothes in his bag for later. A few of the guys had asked him to head out for a few drinks with them after the show and he wasn’t one to say no. 

He paused his packing for a second, staring at his bed longingly. He could do with a quick sleep to take his mind off of his knee and give his back some well-deserved R&R from sleeping on couches. He fished his phone out and set a quick alarm for a half hour nap. Even if Roman came back, it wouldn’t be that long before he got a chance to leave.   
Seth curled himself on the bed against the wall and shut his eyes. His body actually gave in quickly and he fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.

Roman was quiet as he stalked through the room to his luggage, careful not to wake the sleeping Seth. He looked tired. Not that it was unusual for Seth to be tired, after all, they were on the road all the time and training day after day took it out of a person. But Seth looked drained. The want to protect Seth was like a fire deep in his gut. He watched from the corner of his eye as his friend rolled onto his back, arms flung wildly across the bed. He resisted the urge to lay down beside him and wrap his arms around his friends sleeping form. Instead he prepped the bag he took with him to shows.

Seth stirred in his sleep as Roman zipped his bag up, eyes opening with a start. He stared at the dark figure Roman for a second, a well of emotions bubbling away in his stomach. Their eyes met in the half-darkness. Roman seemed to open his mouth to speak before thinking better of it and disappearing out of the room. It hurt but that was exactly what Seth expected, after all he was being a major asshole and he rightly deserved it, at least in his own mind.

He sighed as he grabbed his things. The whole of his floor seemed quiet as he made his way down to Kevin and Sami in the lobby. Most people were probably out already. From his pocket, his phone rang out his alarm and he silenced it as he took the stairs two at a time. Kevin and Sami stood near the door and Seth had to cross the whole of the lobby to meet them. There were a few people still there who gave Seth strange looks as he passed.

“We good to go?” Seth asked quickly, folding his arms. Kevin nodded and jingled his keys for effect.

“We’ve been good to go for like 10 minutes but Sami didn’t want me to head up to wake you just in case” He shrugged as he turned and marched out the door. Seth and Sami followed behind him towards their car. Seth didn’t ask want to ask what the ‘just in case’ was referring to.

The car journey there was louder than Seth usually liked, but there was something endearing about Sami’s chattering away to Kevin and him without expecting much of reply paired with the rock station that the radio was tuned to. Seth was thankful that he shared a music taste with the redheaded man, he couldn’t imagine a car journey with it tuned to bubble-gum pop. They pulled up and Sami practically rolled out, bouncing towards the door. Seth had no clue how his friend could have so much energy, he was drained just looking at him.

Kevin grumbled something about Sami being a dick as they both half-jogged to keep up with him. Seth was inclined to agree as he rounded another corner in the building. They ended up slowing their pace, it was better to walk through security instead of trying to jump them or whatever Sami was going for. The bear-like man decided it was time for a heart to heart as they wound their way through the corridors. Sami was out of earshot and nobody was really around. Finn’s words had been weighing heavy on him.

“Seth, you know you can tell me anythin’, right? Like, I know I’m not exactly Finn but I’m here for you dude”

Seth snorted slightly. He wasn’t sure what Kevin was going for with this one. Kevin shot him a dangerous ‘don’t laugh at me’ look and Seth managed to reign his smile in.

“Of course I know I can talk to you! I’m doing it right now, right?”

“Good. Just, Sami’s already probably talked this out with you, I just don’t wanna see you burn out” It was oddly emotional from Owens and a warm feeling snagged in his stomach. Kevin draped an arm around him and patted his chest gently “I’ve seen it happen Seth, things get bad and you push yourself every day and suddenly you just… aint as good as you were…”

“And then they start changing your bookings” Seth finished with an edge of panic. Kevin was right. This was his dream; he couldn’t let it go.

“If it’s something you need therapy for… we can get you-“

“No!” Seth said loudly enough to make Kevin jump “No, I don’t… sorry, I just don’t need anything, Kevin, it’s just been rough the last couple of days”

“Yeah?”

“Seriously Kevin, I’ll be fine man”

Kevin sighed and unwound his arm from his friend’s shoulders. He punched the man’s arm lightly with a grin to hide the disappointment at the conversation “Okay, good, that’s what I wanted to hear!”

Seth grinned at the change in tone and the chatter changed to general as they finally got through the security line backstage before heading towards the locker room. 

Hs stomach flipped as they entered the locker room. For a moment it was like his first day all over again. Kevin must have saw him freeze and reached for his shoulder.

“You ‘kay?”

“Don’t know where to… put my stuff”

“Ah”

Kevin gently steered him towards where Sami was lounging across a full bench with his bag balanced across his knees. Seth breathed a sigh of relief when Kevin let go of him, he could really appreciate the big man at times.

He took his time getting in his gear, probably checking his boots more times than was necessary. Anything to kill time and avoid any of his friends. The last thing he wanted to see was Roman giving him… that look. The ‘You’re my boy, I miss you’ eyes he’d seen from across hallways and gym exercise machines. He didn’t want to see the eyes he was giving Dean either for that matter. He could feel a cold spike of rage whenever he heard that damn laugh. He plugged his headphones in. It was going to be a long night.

Finn had wound his way over to speak to Kevin and Sami in hushed tones with pointed glances at Seth. He did his best to ignore the Irish man’s hum of concern as he approached. He didn’t actually try to speak to Seth, which was an entirely new approach for Finn. Instead he placed a hand on his head as he passed like a priest attempting to baptise him for his apparent sins. And then he was gone, escaping to the other side of the locker room with the friends Seth knew he should be with. His eyes followed him to Roman’s side then darted away quickly as Dean moved into focus. He wasn’t interested in seeing him any more than he had to.

*

Dean was just about tired of Seth acting like a hurt puppy over things. Roman, however, had spent too much time with him, seen so much with him, felt so much with him, that the act was starting to hurt deeply. He’d fix it all after the show. Whatever it was. Roman could fix this. He missed his best friend and he’d give everything to just… get him back.

“You miss him” Dean commented under his breath on what must have been his own 20th look at Seth. He was just as hurt about Roman’s abandonment, and worried about Seth. He’d seen him flitting out of the room he shared with Kevin and Sami’s plenty of times, never mind roaming corridors at night. Roman nodded slowly as he leant back against the locker “Want me to go… I don’t know… kick his ass or something?”

“Unhelpful, brother, but thanks”

“Reigns, sweetheart, look, I’m a carded member of the ‘Seth has a sweet ass’ club, clearly, but-” He rifled through his bag for his tape before holding it up for scrutiny “But he’s clearly trying to give you the silent treatment”

“What can I do? Seth is… well, Seth’s Seth” He said lowly, studying his best friend’s form from across the room. Finn made a snorting noise beside Roman, rolling his eyes slightly “What?”

“Just… You said it, Ro, Seth is Seth” Finn laughed slightly before sighing “Just apologise or something, make a grand gesture, you know Rollins, he’s a sucker for things like that”  
“Yeah if he lets you near him for more than 2 seconds” Dean added with a humourless smile.

*

Seth wasn’t surprised that his promo with Dean was so good. He watched it on the screens set up backstage after he decided that he was very much sick of watching Sami take his 5th lap around the room, babbling almost incoherently to Kevin who trailed after him with a bemused expression. Most of the locker room were busy doing their own things which left Seth bored.

He stared down at the image of himself, teeth bared in frustration as he slammed Dean against the mirror. He saw the glimmer of panic in Dean’s eyes that was replaced by a something akin to satisfaction. It was almost intoxicating to watch Dean’s mouth hang open in a perfect ‘O’ as he studied Seth above him as the promo faded to black. He dragged his eyes away quickly. He wanted to punch Dean Ambrose. Preferably hard in the face but he’d take what he could get at this point.

He hated that he seemed to have good chemistry with Dean. He didn’t want to be good with him, it would only encourage creative to throw them together until he had to go and flat out refuse.

Seth cursed himself internally as he turned to head back to the locker room to get his water bottle and do his last few pre-match routines. He spun straight into Dean Ambrose who looked at him with that goddamn awful smirk, eyes meeting his.

“Sorry, Seth, was just watchin’ the promo, didn’t mean to scare you”

“Yeah. Not bad work” He said shortly. Seth broke the eye contact and moved to walk past him. Dean grabbed his wrist gently, fingers finding the pulse point and drumming his fingers quickly. Seth didn’t pull away. Instead, he stared at Dean with utter confusion which only served to widen the other man’s smile. It felt nice. Comforting. Words he didn’t exactly associate with Dean “What are you… doing?”

“Thought I’d wish you luck for a start” Dean said quietly. It felt intimate. They stood in silence for a moment before Dean finally let go of his wrist with a sigh “Whatever I’ve done to hurt you, Roman doesn’t deserve you being a little prissy princess, he wants to apologise or something but you-“ He jabbed a finger at his chest but there was no malice behind it. Seth stood dumbstruck as Dean continued with growing irritation “are ignoring him! You have us worried sick”

“Us?” Seth said with a slight edge as his brain caught up with what was happening.

“Ro, Finn… me to an extent, I guess” Dean explained. His cheeks seemed to turn red as he continued “Look, you can hate me all you want, but I’ve seen you vomit on my shoes and that’s enough to make me care about your general wellbeing, okay?”

“Okay, Dean” Seth answered quietly “Good luck”

“Good luck”

*

The crowd was ecstatic as Seth bounced his way out. He lived for the feeling of exhilaration that came with wrestling and tonight it felt like any other night as he climbed in the ring. He felt good even as what he assumed was Ambrose’s music hit, remembering to drop his face into a scowl and prepare for anything Dean would and could throw at him.   
Dean was well prepared too as he stalked down the ramp and clambered into the ring. He stared into Seth’s eyes for a moment as he turned to face the other man and chanced a smirk that only served to deepen the lines between Rollins’ eyebrows. It gave him a great sense of satisfaction to watch him look thoroughly pissed off.

“You ready there, Seth?” He asked as he rolled his neck, narrowing his eyes. Seth actually bared his fucking teeth in response which certainly wasn’t what Dean needed at that moment. He turned his attention to the crowd who were thankfully distracting enough to put his mind off of the fact that he wanted to sink his teeth into Seth’s skin and watch him squirm. No, it didn’t really work actually.

He clicked back to Seth, meeting his eyes. He had no intention of letting the little princess under skin. He was a fucking wrestler and he certainly wasn’t going to lose.  
It was like perfectly practiced choreography as they both took a step towards each other. Dean launched himself at Seth like he was in the indies again, like he didn’t care about tasting blood in his mouth again. And he certainly didn’t. Their frustrations were suddenly laid bare in front of the cameras as they met in a flurry of violence and force.  
Perfect. Just the way Dean liked it.

*

“Holy fuck” Finn commented backstage, leaning forward on the balls of his feet. Kevin grunted his assent, glaring at the monitors with something between a grudging respect and worry. Finn studied Seth’s form as he clambered up onto the top rope. He looked shakier than normal, he put it down to the fact Ambrose had nearly pinned him seconds ago. He wasn’t worried at all, this was one of the greatest things he’d seen in a while “They’re going to kill each other” 

Kevin nodded as he tipped his water bottle back into his mouth “Cool, huh?”

Finn nodded enthusiastically “I mean, that or they keep going until the world ends”

“World record breaking, I’m jealous” He shot back flatly which managed to make Finn snort. 

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as Seth dove. Finn winced. He was glad not to be on the receiving end.

“What if neither of them are meant to pull this off?” Kevin said suddenly.

“My money is on Roman snapping and killing both of them for being whiny pricks” Finn supposed, thinking about how Roman was already being driven to hell and back by Seth. Dean probably wouldn’t drop the subject either. Kevin laughed quietly.

“I’m not murdering anyone” A low voice from behind Finn made him jump and swear. Roman leaned his arm on his shoulder, looking at the monitor with interest. He had been busy going through pre-match rituals, but now he had a little time to spare before he had to go back to getting ready “How’s my boy?”

“Dean or Seth?” Kevin asked innocently, tilting his head to the side.

Roman thought for a moment, giving Kevin an unreadable look. It was really a matter of Dean or Seth and Roman wasn’t in the mood to choose particularly “both”   
Finn snickered, as he turned away from the monitor to face his friend “They’re… god Seth’ll kill me for this, but they’re perfect for each other”

“I know” Roman said in response almost automatically. He was quiet enough for Kevin to miss the statement but Finn raised an eyebrow. Finn frowned slightly and Roman swallowed before explaining “I was there when they were practicing”

“We need to talk Ro-“

“ONE, TWO…” Kevin shouted along as the count watching with wide eyes as the ref’s arm came down for- “THREE!”

Finn and Roman spun to see Kevin jumping on the balls of his feet, mouth agape. He turned to face the pair with an almost disbelieving look “Seth won”

Roman’s chest flooded with pride as he watched Seth on the monitor, breathing raggedly and flushed but oh-so alive. He had a slightly cocky smile that reminded him of mornings spent together curled up on couches and joking. But there was also Dean. He was dragging himself from the ring with an expression that stabbed Roman in the gut so hard he had to remind himself that Ambrose had to be acting.

Dean appeared, fuming in a way that certainly wasn’t acting, as he stormed through the backstage area towards the locker room. Roman took one look at him and took a step towards the locker room before Finn touched his shoulder and he realised his mistake.

“I’ll get him; you need to get ready for your match. Talk to Seth if you have to”


	11. Chapter 11

Out of breath, excited, victorious. Seth was flying high as he tried to contain the jittering energy that threatened to spill from his body. Everything backstage seemed louder than it had any right to be.

“Rollins! We still on for drinks?” Came a chipper voice off to the side. He tried to place it for a second before his mind helpfully provided ‘Breeze’. He was operating on adrenaline alone and the brain fog really wasn’t clearing as fast as he wanted. He turned to Tyler with a wide smile and bobbed his head.

“Course we are, where are we meeting up?”

“Just out back, I assume you’re not driving?” Tyler added as he leaned forward conspiratorially. Seth snorted and nodded. That was the plan; Seth could do with letting off some steam. Tyler nodded slightly, motioning to the crowd behind him he had been in mid-conversation with “Cool with me, catch you in the parking lot”

He watched as he disappeared off into the fray, brows furrowed. Something felt different. Seth shook it off, it was just the rush dropping back to normal. He started the trek to the locker room but skidded to a halt when Roman materialised before him.

His stomach clenched tightly.

“Holding up, baby?” He asked quietly, stepping closer to close the gap between them. Seth started back, the term of endearment oddly foreign for once. With a sick jolt, he realised he was missing Roman, the buzzing in his veins was expectance that demanded Roman Reigns. When Seth didn’t answer, Roman prompted him with a slightly louder “Seth?”

“Yeah sorry! I’m good Roman!” He said loudly and sharply, sounding entirely unconvincing and so unlike himself. A crease of worry passed over Roman’s face. He reached out for his friend, hand going to skim his forearm. Seth pulled away to make a beeline for the locker room.

“Baby boy, Do you need-“

“No!” His voice came out as more of a screech than he intended and Roman pulled back entirely “No, I’m going out!”

“Okay, that’s okay, Seth, I just wanted to ask, don’t worry about it” Roman said. His voice was somehow smooth and even, like he was trying to calm Seth down. He took a step backwards, swallowing slightly. He wanted to comfort Seth, but certainly didn’t want to start a fight. He dropped his eyes, staring at his feet “Look, I’m sorry, Seth… for whatever happened”

Seth paused mid step, caught halfway between spinning to berate Roman and practically sprinting to the locker room. Instead he put his foot down and turned to face his certain death. Roman was giving his best puppy dog eyes, staring at Seth like he’d just announced he was moving to mars. Seth took a deep breath and found the corners of his lips turning up slightly. 

“It’s okay Roman, it’s fine, honestly, you have… nothing to…” He said softly, his smile felt more like sadness than anything else. Honestly he’d rather be going back to his hotel room with Roman than going the opposite way. But then again, there was Dean. Roman would probably prefer to have him for a night than Seth moping around because he couldn’t have his way. 

Roman actually smiled, a warm smile that sent happy warmth spreading through Seth’s body.

“Take someone with you then, please?” He said quietly, stepping towards his friend “Just so you can make it back to a room”

A room. Roman didn’t say their room or specify any details. He didn’t seem to want Seth to come back and suddenly he felt defensive.

“Dean.”

“Uh… he’s… not in a great mood”

“No, I’m taking Dean” Seth’s jaw set firmly “Want me to play nice Roman? Let me take Ambrose” 

“No, he’s in a really bad mood, with you specifically I think”

“He’s pissy because I won?” Seth paused before shooting his most devilish grin at Roman “Well, I think I need a victory drink and he needs a loser drink”

*

“I’m not going for drinks with him!” Dean practically hissed, his whole form bristling when Finn had asked nicely on behalf of Roman and Seth. He didn’t need a repeat of last time, didn’t want to make whatever the fuck he was feeling worse for himself. Finn flinched at Dean’s tone and raised his hands up, mouthing ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. Dean and looked away from his friend, frowning as he watched Seth from across the room. He was sleeping sprawled out across a bench, practically on top of Owens and Zayn who didn’t seem to mind one bit that he was there. They looked in deep conversation, Owens occasionally glancing down at the form below him before returning his attention to Sami.

“Maybe you’d feel better about losing if you did” Finn commented harshly under his breath but loud enough for the man next to him to hear it. Dean huffed out a breath.

“I heard that”

“Good!” Finn shot back, clearly exasperated “Look, I get it, you lost and he’s an asshole… but he’s also our asshole and he asked for you” He jabbed a finger at Dean’s shoulder to prove his point. 

“You’re killing me” Dean groaned as he sat down on the bench. He picked up his shirt, playing with a fraying edge absentmindedly. On one hand, he didn’t hate Seth, he hated how he was treating Roman, and on the other… he could punch his teeth out “Fine! Don’t know why I’m doing this, especially for him” He grumbled, tugging his shirt on.

“Because you care about Roman, arsehole. And him too. And you do, don’t deny it” Finn declared as he sat down beside Dean with a slight laugh. He caught Sami’s eye from across the room. The two shared a look as Kevin attempted to push Seth carefully from his lap without much success.

‘Going out?’ Sami mouthed as Kevin managed to get one thigh out from under one of Seth’s legs with an annoyed grunt. Finn shook his head and motioned in Dean’s general direction. Sami raised his eyebrows but Finn shrugged in response. Kevin seemed to have had quite enough of Seth sleeping on him and pushed his legs off him. Dean nearly shrieked with laughter as Seth pretty much rolled right off the bench and Sami onto the floor.

Seth winced and opened his eyes to see Kevin getting to his feet with a scowl. He sat up with an apology to the big man who was busy rubbing feeling back into his legs. 

“S’okay Seth” he grumbled, reaching down to pat Seth’s head “Got a match and I need my legs”

Seth laughed slightly, his eyes floating lazily around the room. He stopped dead on Ambrose who was sniggering into his hand at Seth. Seth took a deep breath, his eyes flitting between Finn and Dean before drawing back.

“We ready Sami?” Kevin broke through Seth’s mind like sun through clouds.

“Always ready if you are, Kev!” The other man chirped happily in response as he got to his feet. Seth almost felt jealous of the two. They worked together so perfectly even when they were against each other, everything that Seth wanted with Roman. It was probably because they actually communicated Seth decided as Kevin bumped his face into the crook of Sami’s neck with a soft smile. Sami mumbled something back in musical French and suddenly Seth felt horrendously jealous. It was something that the pair had built out of years of working together that only seemed to grow stronger with each passing day “We’ll see you after, don’t get in any trouble”

“Yes, Mom” Seth shot back with a grin. Sami’s lips tipped up into a smile as he shrugged off Kevin and scampered out of the door. Kevin looked back at Seth with a proud grin before rushing off after his friend… partner... boyfriend? Maybe? Seth struggled to find the word to describe them.

He clambered back up onto the bench, eyes scanning around the now mostly empty locker room. He really had no choice but to go and speak to Finn and Dean. He wasn’t going to sit on the bench the whole night like an awkward kid at prom, he was past that stage. Besides, he’d asked for Ambrose to come out with him, no biggie. They were on speaking terms.

He got to his feet, reaching for his bag to sling it as casually as possible over his shoulder before crossing the locker room. Finn looked up with one eyebrow cocked with either displeasure or concern. Dean had a face that Seth could only describe as the look of someone who had just smelt something particularly unpleasant.

“Alright Finn? Dean?” Seth tried weakly as he threw his stuff down beside the pair. 

“Seth, what the fuck are you doing?” Finn asked tiredly, leaning forward on his arms. That was enough to throw Seth off. He made a noise that was somewhere between ‘what’ and ‘Finn?’. Finn rolled his eyes “Honestly, sit down, you’re doing my head in sitting over there and acting like you hate us.

Oh.

Finn grabbed his friends hand and tugged him down to sit beside him. Dean shifted towards the pair without thinking with a slight smile as a bewildered Seth stared at Finn with a gloriously stupid looking expression. He could definitely get used to stunned-silence-dumb-face Seth.

“Sorry, just…”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re in one of your crazy moods” Dean cut in, tilting his head to one side. Seth swallowed sharply and curled in on himself slightly as if scared. Maybe not his best move in a while, but then again, Dean had never been known for his tact. Finn swooped into save him.

“Seth Rollins, we’re brothers and we don’t leave each other behind because one of us is in a mood” Finn muttered, jabbing Seth in the ribs. The sentiment was so sweet it was sickly. 

“Fuck! Finn! Don’t do that!” Seth groaned as he grabbed at his rib. Seth pulled a pained expression that sent Finn into fits of laughter. He jabbed Finn back lightly with a tiny smile. Dean looked upwards interestedly, at least a little bit happy to see Seth a little more normal. 

The two old friends slid back into their routine easily. Dean hovered on the side line like a third wheel. He didn’t particularly want to get in the way between the two, especially considering it seemed to be his fault that Seth was in a mood. He stared down at his hands, watching his fingers drum intricate patterns on his thigh. He was okay with this.

“Dean! You are coming out with me and everyone else, right?” Seth asked. He flicked his hair out of his eyes as he looked upwards at the other man who was leaning over Finn with a smile.

“I mean you did ask me to, dumbass” He retorted after a beat. Seth flushed red and nodded.

“That’s uh… right I did huh?”

“Regretting your decision, pretty boy?”

“Never”

*

If there was one man that could start a party, it was Tyler Breeze. 

If there were two people who could start a party, it was Tyler Breeze and Xavier Woods. The two had managed to convince half the roster to pile into cars and turn up at this tiny bar that they promised would provide the night of their lives. In all honesty though, it didn’t matter the location, Breeze and Woods could turn out the best parties on earth.

Roman had ruffled Seth’s hair gently as they left the venue and Seth had a feeling that he would definitely be finding his way back into his own room at the end of the night. He wanted to find himself back in those arms for once.

But until then, Seth had a whole night ahead of him accompanied by Dean who was more withdrawn than he expected as they piled into a car with an excited Sheamus and slightly less enthused Cesaro.

Seth had been tugged up onto a table in the rundown bar to dance with Tyler Breeze before he’d even made it to the bar for a drink. He’d been trying to wade through the crowd of his friends until someone (Probably Kofi, if Seth thought hard enough about it) had grabbed him and threw him upwards to meet a grinning Breeze. Dean managed to make his way out of the cramped crowd and looked on wide eyed as Tyler performed some moves that certainly didn’t seem to be legal in a public place. It was scandalous. He was even more surprised when Seth started grinning ear to ear and started grinding back on Breeze, the two laughing, before shoving him off the table. Okay so, not only surprised, slightly turned on actually. Becky was pulled up after Seth was dropped back into the crowd unceremoniously, laughing rapturously. 

“C’mon Dean, let’s get something to drink” He grinned as he tugged the other man in his wake. Dean didn’t move to follow Seth, his eyes half on Tyler and half on a flushed Seth. This wasn’t really the uptight Seth he’d grown to know over the past few days. And Breeze? What even was that. Seth sniggered and leant on Dean’s shoulder to whisper in his ear “Or would you rather stand there and gawk at Breezey?”

“Oh please, I’m just scoping out the competition for when I have to out dance him later, Sweetheart” 

“I wouldn’t worry about him, It’s ‘Dango and me you need to watch out for” He grinned and tugged him “Now move, we’re gonna enjoy tonight and if I happen to have be drunk to do so then so be it. We’re going to have fun”

Dean gave in and let Seth move him towards the bar. Seth was right, he was going to enjoy the night. One way or another.

*

An hour later he was pretty sure that trying to out dance Kofi was a great idea. 

“You can’t fuckin dance to save yourself” Seth giggled as he tugged Dean towards him and out of the way of Big E who was taking up his empty spot. 

“You can’t hold your drink to save yourself so clearly we’re even” He retorted with a snort and to prove a point pushed Seth who wobbled slightly. He wrapped an arm around his waist with a smirk “Besides, I’m a great dancer. You’re buying next, round Rollins!”

By the time an hour and a half passed, he had his hands all over Seth. The bar had only become more filled, the dancefloor practically a fighting zone, but it was perfect for Dean who still had enough self-awareness not to get caught in a compromising situation with anyone. Seth had managed to manoeuvre Dean against a wall to press his ass against him in a ‘totally friendly’ way and Dean was just about at the end of his tether. He snuck a hand up Rollin’s shirt, fingers playing across tight abs then up to his nipples. Even over the noise of the music he could hear Seth practically whine.

“You like that, sweetheart?” He growled against Seth’s neck. His face was buried in the blonde side of his hair, attempting to burrow through to find the golden skin underneath. Seth nodded wordlessly as Dean rolled the nub of flesh between his thumb and forefinger. It was glorious to watch Seth shudder then grind heavily back against Dean’s crotch, his illusions of the controlling Rollins finally shattered. Dean was extremely thankful for Seth’s choice in jeans, which left little to the imagination, as he stared down the front of the glorious creature writhing against him. Even in his slightly alcohol addled state he could appreciate that maybe the middle of a bar wasn’t the best place for them to be doing this.

“D-dean” Seth’s voice was pleading and desperate. 

“I gotcha, Sweetheart, how about we head on back to your room”

But- Dean, Roman, fuck… Roman” Seth was more coherent as they stumbled for the exit. Dean nodded sagely as they spilt out together on the pavement, Seth fumbling with his phone for a cab.

“You do mean 'fuck Roman', right?”

“Oh fuck yes” There was a devilish grin in Seth’s eyes that only promised trouble. It was gloriously dirty and Dean’s skin was practically itching for it.

Somehow they managed to coordinate themselves into a cab to the hotel. The two couldn’t keep their hands off each other, despite the cab driver coughing loudly every time Seth shoved a hand down Dean’s pants. Dean was only a little more restrained. The alcohol had started to really set in and he found himself bridging the gap to kiss Seth. It was more teeth than lips, harsh and quick but that was how Dean had learned to like it. Seth was quite happy with the turn of events, nipping back at Dean’s lower lip with reckless abandon.

The cab driver was having none of it as they stopped and tried to pay, not even waiting for a tip before he sped off. It sent them both into hysterics as they made their way to Roman and Seth’s room earning strange looks from the hotel staff in the lobby. They staggered upwards to the right floor, Dean tracing the familiar route he had found for himself to meet Roman in the early mornings. Seth fumbled with the keys for a minute before the door swung open and he pulled Dean in for a victory kiss.

They fell back into the room, Seth draped around Dean as he shut the door with a bang. 

“Seth? Dean?” The voice was low and rumbling as a light flicked on to illuminate a half dressed Roman Reigns. Seth half turned to the sound as much as possible without entirely detaching himself from Dean who was fumbling with Seth’s shirt.

Seth flicked his tongue over his bottom lip, pupils blown wide, and grabbed Dean’s hands. He pulled him towards Roman with a gleeful smile.

“Yes, Roman?”

“What do you think you’re do- Dean!” 

The auburn haired man had finally managed to shake off Seth and dropped to his knees in front of Roman. His hands flew to the waistband of Roman’s pyjama pants, tugging them down with a hungry look on his features. Roman’s hand clamped at the fabric, with a frown. Seth, not one to be outdone, latched onto Roman’s neck, nipping teasingly upwards to the man’s jaw. 

Roman swallowed, fighting the urge to just give in. 

“What, Ro?” Dean asked innocently from his place on the floor which only served to make Seth laugh. Roman curled a hand into Dean’s hair and pulled him backwards with his best attempt at a scowl.

“No.” His voice was slow and commanding enough to weed its way into Dean and Seth’s brains. They both stopped in their tracks.

“what d’ya mean no?” Dean asked softly as he drew back, his cheeks flushed with a pretty red. He shifted uncomfortably on his knees. Roman withdrew his hand from his hair to stroke his thumb across the man’s cheekbone. Dean smiled hopefully and pressed his face back into the bigger man’s hand.

“I mean no, you’re both drunk” Roman said carefully. Dean made a dismissive noise and leant forward once more. Roman stepped back with a sigh “No, Deano, get up off your knees babe, come on”

“Roman, please? We’ll be really good” Seth tried with a pout “Please? you want us both, right?”

He sounded hopeless, practically seeking reassurance from Roman that he was actually wanted. It cut through Dean’s haze like a knife. He clambered unsteadily to his feet to kiss Seth who pliantly leaned back into Dean with a soft whine. Roman sighed and hooked an arm around the two men to steady them. Seth pulled away to stifle a yawn against his forearm. It gave Roman a glimmer of inspiration.

“How about we get you to bed, huh?” Roman suggested “Get you snuggled up”

Seth warmed to the suggestion and nodded enthusiastically. Dean looked sceptical as Roman let go of them both. He took a shaky step backwards, his fingers moving to his collar bone to nervously tap. He realised he’d probably outstayed his welcome in Roman and Seth’s room and it was time to find his own room. Seth made a confused noise and reached a grabby-hand for the man as he moved away.

“Hey there, Deano, where do you think you’re going?” Roman asked, reaching for Dean’s hand “You’re very welcome to stay, I think Seth wants you to stay and I would certainly feel better if you did instead of waking up Kevin and Sami, but the decision is up to you”

“I… I’d like to”

Roman smiled and took a hold of Dean, leading him towards the bedroom. He kept a firm hold on Seth as he manoeuvred him to the bed. He sat Seth down on the edge, gently stroking his face with a small smile. The younger man pressed his face against the flat of Roman’s hand.

“Dean, why don’t you…”

He trailed off as Dean managed to worm his way under his arm, snuggling into his broad chest. Roman savoured the moment as much as he could, Dean’s messy mop of hair just under his chin and Seth sleepily nuzzling against the palm of his hand, before breaking it up. He managed to persuade the two men to strip down to their underwear before starting to get them tucked in. With any luck he wouldn’t be wiping vomit off the bathroom floor in the morning. He tucked Dean into the crook of his arm, smiling as the man settled in like that was exactly where he should be. Seth simply curled up on top of Roman, hand settling on top of Dean’s chest.

Within seconds, both men were asleep leaving Roman to his own devices. He pulled them both a little tighter with a grin growing on his face. He could spend his forever like this. As long as they both were sober at least.

“You two… will be the death of me”


	12. Chapter 12

Roman curled his hair in Seth’s hair as he hurled into the toilet. He winced slightly as Seth pulled a face and made a whining noise. He helped him to his feet, guiding him to the sink carefully. Seth leaned over to wash his mouth out with water from the tap, wincing.

“Gross” He commented, meeting Roman’s eyes in the mirror, heavy lidded and slightly bloodshot.

“I agree” Roman confirmed, ruffling Seth’s hair lightly “Come on, let’s get you back to bed, huh?”

Dean seemed to have slipped out at some point early in the morning while they were asleep and Roman felt a degree of thankfulness. He couldn’t imagine Seth’s reaction when he would have to explain the whole affair. Seth nodded, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand. Roman tucked him under his arm, guiding him back to the bed. He had a feeling he’d have to clean up vomit later anyway. Though, he didn’t actually mind, he wanted to take care of Seth with every fibre of his being. 

Seth threw himself down on the bed, fishing his jeans from the floor. He pulled them on over his body, tucking his hands into the pockets and sliding his fingers over the phone tucked away there. Guilt washed over him like a wave, followed by dull anger for some reason. He screwed his eyes shut to work out why.

Images. Flashing and dancing. With Breeze mostly. Clinging onto Sasha for dear life as he laughed at some joke. And then Dean. Lips bitten raw. Dean. Hands under shirts. Dean. Teasing and tempting and Dean all at once. The images raced through his mind, the fog lifting slightly as Roman sat down on the edge of the bed. Nothing seemed right.

“Roman?”

“Yeah?”

“How did I get back here last night”

Silence. A beat too long as Roman swallowed and stared intently down at his hands.

“Dean brought you back.” Roman was slow, deliberate as if to end the conversation dead. The tensing of his shoulders was enough to alarm Seth. It seemed like the picture was slowly shifting into focus and the images from the night before were forming a coherent time line.

“Roman?”

“What is it, Seth?”

“Look at me” Roman’s head turned just a fraction upwards, enough for Seth to see the hickeys decorating his neck. Seth’s hands turned to fists then straightened out again as he fought to maintain composure “What happened?”

“Seth I don’t want to…” His large hand found the top of Seth’s, the weight comforting but not enough to settle the gnawing confusion in Seth’s gut “Baby boy, not just now, just let me have this one for just a minute”

“Don’t ‘baby boy’ me, Roman” Seth said sharply. He could picture Dean, sucking every one of those dark marks onto Roman’s skin while Seth curled up asleep. Could already see Roman smiling. That goddamn smile that could kill him dead. That had to have been how it played out “Not now, not after what you’ve done”

Roman winced, his brows knotting together in pain. His eyes found Seth’s, dark and hurt. Seth steeled himself “Seth, what do you mean-“

“I know about you and Dean. You can drop the act now Reigns, I saw everything when you were in the locker room, you two are…” He couldn’t find the words. He could barely see now, his eyes filling with bitter tears. Roman was a wobbly shape, his hands grabbing at Seth’s, pleading with him to see it differently “Why don’t you just drop me like you want to?”

“Seth? I don’t know… I want to drop you”

“It’s okay, Roman, he won’t make you worried 20 times a day, he won’t act like a brat every 5 minutes, he’ll kiss you in public and he’ll be in an actual relationship with you instead of this shit we have” Seth pulled away from Roman, staggering to his feet to pull on clothes. Roman tried to hold onto his hand, but Seth whipped it out of reach as he pulled on his jeans and shirt “You can have everything you want, Roman, your happily ever after”

“God Seth, I want you, It’s not my happily ever after if you’re not going to be there” Roman’s voice broke then as Seth pulled on his shoes. The hurt blossomed between them, red and sore like an open wound.

“I’ll be there, brother” The word was said with something akin to malice. Seth stood, unsure of himself, unsure of Roman who had his head in his hands “But you can go get your Ambrose, you’ve never needed me anyway”

He picked up his jacket and walked shakily from the room and out into the corridor. He blindly fumbled down to Kevin and Sami’s room, hammering on the door. He felt sick as the door opened to a dishevelled Dean Ambrose.

“Fuck… Seth?”

“No, I need Kevin, not you, never you”

Hands came to rest on Seth’s biceps, too warm against his skin. He pulled away with an indignant hiss, eyes scanning for Kevin. A figure moved behind Dean, pushing him out of the way. Strong but careful hands took Ambrose’s place. Kevin barked commands at people in the room, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend. Carefully he guided him to the bathroom, slamming the door shut against the world.

*

Roman’s heart was racing. He felt cold as ice as he pulled on his clothes.

‘Go after Seth’ His heart screamed at him viciously. His mind won out however as he stumbled the few doors to Finn’s room. The Irishman answered after just one knock and took a look at the tall man with the heartbroken expression.

“Jesus… get in here, Roman” Finn groaned, whipping him inside by his arm. He motioned to the sofa “Sit down, I’ll get you water”

Every step towards the sofa was torturous. By the time Roman had sat down, Finn was offering him the glass, pressing it into his shaking hands. There was a moment of silence as Roman brought it to his lips for the smallest sip. Finn seemed to tower over him as he stroked his back.

“Finn… I did something horrible to Seth, me and Dean did something awful but he didn’t mean it”

“Honestly… I’m not surprised, go on, Roman” Finn said slightly sharply. He had a feeling something had been bubbling since Seth made Dean go with him to the bar. It was the same feeling that had been there when Seth had first broken away from them, only now it was loud and sad and staring him right in the face.

“I kissed Dean”

“Of course you did” Finn said quickly, his voice pitching upwards with exasperation. He’d read between enough lines to work out why Dean seemed to cling to the man “While I don’t think that’s the best, you just-“

“No, Finn you don’t get it, Dean was frustrated and I kissed him to make him feel better, special and give him something to hang on to” Roman explained with a quivering tone. 

“Kissing doesn’t solve anything, Reigns” Finn sighed “And? It’s just a kiss”

“Seth saw us”

Finn’s colour seemed to drain then. Roman’s shoulders dropped and his grip on the glass loosened. The water fell to the ground with a thud, the glass cracking right up the side. If Finn was a poet, he’d say that was a metaphor. The thing Roman had built was shattering and there was nothing he could do but pick out the razor sharp shards.

“Oh Christ al-fucking-mighty” Finn murmured.

“I thought we could… work this out, right? Maybe I could… Dean and Seth and then…”

“Roman, I thought you loved him” Finn said quietly, his fist balling up the fabric of Roman’s shirt. 

“I do, Finn, both of them, I can’t not”

“You can’t string Seth along, Reigns, I thought you of all people would know how bad he has it, hell he doesn’t think he’s ever been worthy of you. He wants to prove himself so badly, wants guidance and you were that. Now you’ve pretty much abandoned him” He said lowly. Roman met his eyes for the first time. Heavy with guilt. Finn flicked his tongue over his bottom lip as he considered his next words. He didn’t want to push Roman away, just try and talk sense into him “And Dean? Oh sure, Dean knows about you and Seth, but he thought that maybe you could love him, he’s not as perfect as he seems. That boy’s never had a good relationship, I can see it every time he looks at you. He expects it to go wrong and he throws himself into anything he can get”

Roman exhaled.

“Roman, I’m not saying you can’t have them both, but they aren’t puzzle pieces for you to play around with all the time”

“I don’t think they’re puzzles, Finn, I never would” He said earnestly, grabbing Finn’s hand “Please, tell me how to fix this, please”

“I can’t fix this for you, Ro I love you with all my heart, you’re my brother, Seth and Dean are too, but this… this is a thing that you have to do on your own” Finn finished, his hand releasing the back of Roman’s shirt with difficulty. 

His friend frowned, closing his eyes tightly as he took in Finn’s words. He had to fix this by himself, Finn was right. What Seth was feeling was Roman’s fault. If what Finn had said about Dean was true, Roman was exploiting them both. Guilt settled over him like a like a crashing wave.

It made sense. How Dean’s first response to worry or anger had been to placate Roman. It wasn’t always that he wanted to be there with Roman. Roman could be judge jury and executioner and Dean was only pleading his case.

“I’m going to fix this”

“Roman, I trust you will” A smile played across Finn’s features. When his friend said he would do something, he’d see it through to the end “Just be careful”

“I will”

*

Seth and Kevin squished into the thankfully sizable tub together. Kevin folded his arms as he watched the other man sob, slightly out of his depth with the whole situation. This had never been his forte, in fact most of the time, Sami was the one with the comforting skills. Kevin was more a watch and wait kind of guy. But then again, Seth had wanted him and not the happy go lucky ginger. It had to be for a reason.

He counted the wracking breaths Seth was taking. Watching as the moments between the shaking took longer. The pressure of Kevin’s leg against his seemed to be enough to keep him grounded and was working to relax him. He’d seen Roman hold onto Seth’s shoulder when he was nervous or worried and it had always seemed to work pretty well. 

“Deep breaths, Seth” Kevin tried finally, reaching a hand out of the tub to find the toilet paper to pass across to his friend. The other man shakily took it from him, dabbing at his tear strained cheeks. He looked upwards, his eyes a sore looking pink. Kevin was completely at a loss as to what to do and what could have caused it. He had no idea as to why he’d want Kevin of all people there. He settled on the only thing he could do and his greatest skill. Bullshitting “Want me just to talk?”

“Please”

“Any preferred topics?” Kevin asked with a slight tone of desperation creeping into his voice. Seth shook his head quickly in response. He settled on his favourite topic “Sami’s been trying to get me into his vegan food and shit recently, Seth, like you wouldn’t believe how much I’m trying here but like… if I have to see another block of tofu I’m gonna die”

Seth seemed to smile slightly as Kevin yammered on, his tears drying on his cheeks slowly.

“But like I’ll try it for him, yknow? This will sound soppy, I know, but like I wanna try everything with him even if it is the food equivalent of a disappointing nap” Kevin continued, waving his hands to prove his point. He couldn’t keep the smile on his face from growing either. It seemed to spread to Seth “If he turned around to me and was like ‘Kevin lets go kill someone’, that’s where I’d draw the line, but otherwise sure go wild babe because I’m with you”

“That’s love, right?” Seth asked quietly.

“I mean, you could call it that I suppose” Kevin decided, with a nod. Seth smiled a small smile, tilting his head back to rest it on the wall. Kevin shifted slightly, the taps digging into his back was really uncomfortable but he wasn’t about to complain to Seth about it. He leant forwards with his head in his hands, staring upwards “Though, there’s definitely more to it than tryin’ tofu”

Seth shut his eyes tight, taking a deep breath.

“Kevin, I love Roman”

“No fucking shit, kid” Kevin said with a snort, slapping his forehead. Seth flushed red and started with wide eyes “Jesus Christ, I swear to god you’re oblivious, everyone knows you love the big guy”

“Not as friends, like I love-“

“I know! Seth you’re the only one on earth that doesn’t realise that we all know” Kevin rolled his eyes and patted his friend’s knee with a smile “And trust me, he loves you just as much”  
The wind seemed to go out of Seth’s sails and he crumbled in on himself with a defeated expression. Kevin winced “Was it something I said?”

“No, not you, Kevin… just… Roman doesn’t love me”

“Yeah right, that man doesn’t totally adore you more than life itself-“

“He kissed Ambrose, Kevin”

“Oh”

“Ambrose kissed back”

“Oh” The bigger man swallowed and fixed Seth look that he couldn’t quite decipher “Well, that changes things, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle in for angst filled chapters! I wrote these all to Rise Against and I can... really tell.


	13. Chapter 13

Dean was pacing the room observed by a slightly confused Sami who was sighing under his breath with every turn made by the other man. With the appearance of Seth at the door, Sami had a feeling that he wasn’t going to have a quiet morning. His stomach twisted uncomfortably as he thought about how Kevin had bundled the other man into the bathroom while Dean stood transfixed at the sight.

“Dean, sit down” he said for what must have been the 100th time. Clearly the exasperation he’d managed to keep out of his voice had finally crept in judging by the look Dean gave him. Despite that, however, Dean finally lowered himself onto the couch beside Sami, his pacing thankfully stopped. His hand moved to his collarbone, tugging his shirt to the side to tap rhythmically. If Sami had to describe him in one word he’d definitely go for anxious. It wasn’t a look that entirely suited Dean.

The scruffy man shifted, staring back at the bathroom door with a sad look.

“I’m sure Seth’s okay, Kevin would let us know if anything was wrong, probably” Sami tried to assure him with a smile. That seemed to do nothing to help Dean however. Sami pursed his lips with a frown “You know what? I’m gonna assume you know something and you don’t have to tell me, but I’d really love to know”

“I- Sami, sweetheart, I have no idea what’s wrong” Dean confessed. He shut his eyes tightly “He turns up crying and mad at me despite…” He trailed off and looked over at Sami “Do you think… I think I tried to suck Roman’s dick last night but like nothing happened and I think I remember Seth being all for it but… would he be mad about that?”

Sami struggled to contain his laughter, staring at Dean incredulously “Dean, are you kidding me?”

Dean shook his head, following it up with a shrug “To be quite honest, Sami, I’ve done worse things than that” Sami winced. That was not a great statement to hear, especially in reference to his friends. He sat up a little straighter, tilting his head to look at Dean.

“Do I want to know?”

“Might have made out with Roman a few times...”

“Dean!”

“Also… uh” He paused to cough, scratching his head slightly “Remember that night everyone went out? My first night?”

“Dean Ambrose, do not finish your sentence” Sami said quickly, screwing his eyes tight. He had been with Kevin at the bar, not drinking of course, but he’d been chatting with Seth before he disappeared. Kevin had showed up, blabbering on about the new guy but Sami had dismissed it and tugged Kevin ‘I don’t dance’ Owens up to dance with him. Roman had appeared a little later, asking for his friend but he didn’t seem worried. If anything he seemed upset at Seth leaving. Which made sense. After all, Sami had been watching their will we-won’t we relationship like everyone else on the roster. Alexa grinning ear to ear and the phrase ‘Seth’s got lucky’ stuck out like a sore thumb in his mind. 

Well, that sorted some speculation out. He forced the anxious energy that was building in body down, bumping his leg up and down as he stared at Dean. 

Dean had shut up, curling into himself in thought. His tapping continued, off beat now as he fought to come up with something to do or say. Something that would solve all his problems.  
“Does Seth know?” Sami asked, running a hand through his hair. Dean shook his head viciously and a groan escaped Sami’s lips “Could he know?”

Dean’s posture stiffened and he shook his head again. The quiet of the room allowed Sami to pick up the sounds of warm rumblings in a voice he could hear in a crowded room. He smiled inwardly at Kevin before pulling himself back to the now, looking at Dean.

He was shaking his head still, chewing his lip harshly. There was blood swelling at the breaks on his skin and his tongue swiped at it roughly. His hand had stilled but instead the nails were digging into the pale skin below it. He stood up suddenly, starting Sami.

“I can fix this” He assured Sami.

“Or make it worse?” The ginger man offered. Dean scowled and Sami threw up his hands in defeat “I’m just saying! Playing the devils advocate! Things have a dramatic history of going wrong, Dean”

Dean huffed a sigh and stepped towards the bathroom door, pulling his sleeves over his hands. He stared at the white wood with determination before lifting his hand to knock sharply. There was a pause before a voice that was definitely Kevin’s answered with a “Fuck off, occupé!”

He looked around at Sami for guidance. To say his French was rusty was an understatement.

“Says it’s occupied Dean, hes not going to open the door” Sami provided.

“You got all that from Occu… whatever?”

“He did tell you to fuck off, I expanded on his point” The ginger sighed before dropping dramatically backwards onto the couch to lie across it. Dean steeled himself and knocked again.

“Use someone else’s toilet, we’re busy” Kevin called back. There was slight laugh that Dean could immediately pick out as Seth’s. There was a sound of shuffling towards the door before Kevin’s voice came back again, louder this time “Sami, is Dean out yet because like, my legs hurt from sitting in this tub” Sami visibly winced at Kevin’s words, disappearing further down into the pillows. 

“Sorry, Kevin, I am in fact still here” Dean whipped back almost cheerily “Though I’d quite like to talk to Seth, if you don’t mind”

“I do actually in fact mind, Dean, but thanks for asking”

“That’s a shame! Seth! Can you please talk to me instead of getting Mr Grumpy to do it?”

At the mention of Kevin, Sami’s head again popped up from behind the couch cushions as Dean took a step back, folding his arms.

“Seth doesn’t want to talk to you, Ambrose, piss off” Kevin continued, a protective edge creeping into his voice.

“Tell him to stop being so fucking dramatic and get out here” Dean argued back, folding his arms tightly across his chest “So we can fucking talk instead of playing telephone with me, you and the door”

“You lost the ability to talk to me like a normal person when you-” Seth’s voice was like a knife straight through Dean’s gut. 

“When I what, sweetheart?”

There was a beat of silence and then, loud and clear “When you’re the one fucking around with Roman around my back”

“Me and Roman?” Dean asked almost incredulously, his mouth hanging open. His arms fell to his sides hopelessly.

“Yes ‘You and Roman’, Ambrose, you don’t need to act all innocent, I know all about your little secrets, seen them too”

Dean swallowed sharply. Sami touched his shoulder gently, pulling him away from the door, but Dean shook him off. He was almost horror struck, staring desperately at the door. Of course. This was always coming down to the fact that Roman and Seth were completely oblivious to each other’s feelings. And, with a sad feeling, Dean realised that he probably had a hand in making the situation worse.

“Seth… Jesus fucking Christ, listen to yourself” He managed, pressing a hand against the door “Don’t act like this is a dirty secret, I don’t have any dirty laundry about me and Roman”

“You’re hooking up with him, Ambrose!”

Sami took a sharp intake of breath, an action mirrored by Kevin on the other side of the door, as Seth reached for the handle, opening the door painfully slowly. Dean forced himself to meet the red puffy eyes of Seth.

“I’ve never ‘hooked up’ with Roman, Seth” Dean replied quietly, his fingers tapping erratically on his thigh as he leant forward on his tip-toes “The only one here I’ve ‘hooked up’ with is you”

Less than a second later, Seth launched himself at Dean who stumbled back against Sami. Kevin grabbed his friend, tearing him back from a heartbroken looking Dean. Sami steadied the wild haired man as Kevin fought to hold back Seth. He wrapped his arms tightly around him in a bear hug that under in any other circumstances would have calmed anyone right down or killed them. It was relatively the same thing.

“You fucking dirty no good liar, who the fuck told you about that? Who told you?” Seth spat venomously as he struggled against Kevin’s weight. It hurt more than anything Seth had ever felt.

“Why would I lie? I… I fuck I’ll just show you” Dean said quickly. Seth looked like an injured animal fighting for his life. Tact had never been a word in Dean’s dictionary and now he was starting to regret how he’d approached it. He fished in his pocket for his phone, watching with a grim satisfaction as Seth’s eyes widened. He chewed his lip as he navigated through the contacts, the seconds dragging as he cursed himself for being shit with technology. Finally, there it was.

“Seth…” Sami said quietly over Dean’s shoulder as Dean punched the call button.

The sound of Seth’s ring tone had never been as painful as that moment. It rung out almost impossibly loud from the pocket of Seth’s jeans and it was all Kevin could do to hold Seth as he weakly laughed.

“Hey turns out you’re not a liar”

It was at that moment Roman and Finn walked through the door and what little composure Seth and Dean had vanished.

*

Roman winced as he watched Dean turn to face him, his eyes shining with tears that he blinked away quickly. For a moment he didn’t recognise Seth slumped against Kevin hopelessly.

“Christ on a bike, fer the love of all that is holy, what did you do? Never mind, We’ll deal with this later” Finn muttered, pushing past Roman’s large form to extract Seth from Kevin’s arms. He went without a fight, letting the Irishman guide him to sit down on the couch.

He glanced at Roman and nodded to Dean who was almost clinging to Sami, oddly quiet in his panic and hurt. Roman took a step forward, hand outstretched for the other man who made a choked noise and stumbled back, pulling Sami who was cooing gently under his breath like he was talking to a baby. Finn sighed and stood up, touching Dean who froze under his arm.

“Hey Deano, want to maybe not choke Sami out with his own shirt?” Sami snorted slightly but Dean untangled his hands. Finn took a deep breath before pushing him to sit down on the other end of the couch. 

The room was plunged into an uncomfortable silence as Finn surveyed the mess. He frowned and looked to Kevin who was busy making sure Sami was okay. Kevin straightened out Sami’s shirt and patted his cheek when he was satisfied.

“Well now that that’s… fucking over we’re going out” Kevin said lowly as Sami grabbed his hand protectively. Finn folded his arms, giving them a slightly concerned look “What? I’ve spent like an hour with Rollins in a bathroom, my legs hurt and I’m not great at emotional pep talks”

Seth made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob and Roman took a step towards the couch under the watchful gaze of Finn who was trying his best to work out a solution. 

“You know what Kevin? I think I’ll come too” Finn decided with a loaded look at Roman who nodded solemnly. Deans head shot upwards and he stood up quickly, moving towards Finn, almost clumsily, who caught him with one arm and held him in place “Dean, it will be fine, I promise you, sit down. All three of you need to talk like... adults”

Indecision crossed Dean’s face before he conceded, returning to the sofa to sit as far away from Seth as he could. A smile lit up Finn’s face as he moved to Roman who bowed his head shame.

“You want to be the good guy, brother? Fix this” Finn said, inaudible to anyone apart from the man in front of him. He touched the Samoan’s arm with as much encouragement as he could muster. He knew, deep down, that all three of them could make it. If only they could talk about feelings for once in their lives. With a sigh he turned to Kevin and Sami who simply started towards the door.

“Coffee and an explanation?” Sami asked hopefully as he left the room.

“Coffee and an explanation” Confirmed Finn, nearly walking into Kevin who had stopped on the threshold, staring sternly at the three men left in the room.

“Please don’t kill each other here, or if you do, clean up after. This room is nice and I’m not paying extra”

*

The tension in the room was thick, almost like you could cut it with a knife. Seth refused to look up from where he was hunched, arms wrapped around himself protectively, while Dean sat staring at the empty space that was occupied by Finn. Roman had made no attempt to move further into the room chewing his lip as he tried to work out how best to approach them. Finally, he took a tentative aching steps towards the couch, kneeling down in front of the two.

“Please, please let me… help me fix this” He said almost hopelessly, placing a hand on each of the men’s knees. Dean flinched, eyes flicking to Roman’s hand.

“Roman, I can’t- I don’t think I can do this” Seth breathed out, looking up from his arms to meet Roman’s wide brown eyes. He swallowed. He had trusted Roman, more than anything else in his life before he’d met him, but now it seemed impossible. 

“Dean?”

“This is fucked up” Dean muttered, eyes narrowing slightly as he trailed his gaze up Roman’s arms Before tearing himself away to look at Seth pleadingly “Why is this so fucked up? Jesus I thought this time it would be okay”

“We can make this okay” Roman tried, gently squeezing his knee. Dean shook his head viciously in response “Trust me, both of you”

“Stop avoiding the truth, Roman” Seth murmured, tipping his head to the side “I can’t trust either of you when I don’t know what’s happened, and you seem to be the only one out of us that knows… everything”

Dean frowned and sat up straighter, twisting his knee from under Roman’s warm hand “Just… we need to tell the truth about it all”

“We should get it all out, right Dean?” Seth offered quietly, looking over to meet Dean’s eyes. Dean nearly choked as Seth tried to smile at him “Then we can…work it out?” Seth looked to Roman who nodded with the smallest smile of pride growing on his face. Warmth spread through him for the first time in days, like something inside him was waking up again.

“I’m in” Dean said firmly, shifting closer on the couch towards Seth.

“Likewise” Roman confirmed with a nod.

Seth shuffled into the middle of the sofa beside Dean, patting the space beside him for Roman. The big man squeezed onto the seat beside Seth, leaning forward to watch both of the men as they drew closer together.

“Why don’t we start at the beginning?” Dean asked, his fingers sliding under his collar to tap gentle rhythms, his eyes shutting out the world “I’ll… I can explain”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sexual content ahead!

“You should come out with us all tonight” The girl with the long brown hair tied back in a ponytail offered. Dean struggled for a minute to remember her name. Bayley, her name was Bayley. He was a bit disappointed he’d forgotten it so quickly. He’d be stuck learning plenty of new names for the next few days. Dean had met her backstage. He’d joined at the company on tour a day earlier than anyone had expected and he’d decided to go to the show to hang out backstage and maybe scope out the competition. He hadn’t banked on the friendliest member of the women’s division bouncing up to him and introducing herself. 

“Yeah, I don’t know about that” He muttered, scratching his beard. She looked a little disappointed but nodded anyway “I appreciate it though, really, thank you Bayley”

“Are you sure?” She tried again “Everyone’s going, maybe it would help you meet some people and not just me!” She laughed and kicked her legs back and forward under her. She’d perched herself up on the box Dean had been leaning on, chatting away and waving to various people as they passed. She was perfectly friendly and warm. Dean sighed slightly. It would probably start grating on him. 

“I’m not sure Bayley, it’s just that…” He trailed off as three men passed by.

One was talking quickly in an accent that Dean managed to discern as Irish, he was grinning widely up at a bigger man with long dark hair tied back in a lazy bun. Dean bit his lip as he trailed his eyes across the man’s body appreciatively. God, he was handsome. Dean had to admit that this was definitely one of the perks of professional wrestling as he moved to the last man. He had brown hair tied back similarly to the other, he had a headphone jammed in one ear but was smiling interestedly as the Irishman talked.

“Oh hey! Finn! Seth! Roman! Come meet Dean!” Bayley called, reaching out towards the three as they passed.

“Bayley!” The Irish guy smiled widely as he turned. He didn’t seem to stop smiling as he offered Dean his hand. Dean took it warily, giving him a slight smile in response “Finn Bálor, pleased to meet you! I’ve heard all about you, looks like we have a match coming up, right?”

The name clicked in Dean’s head and he nodded with some enthusiasm “Dean Ambrose, uh, it’s great to meet you, I hope you don’t mind me beating you up”

Finn snorted and gestured to the other two “Uh, this is Roman Reigns, our local superhero, and this-” He gestured to the other man who was putting his phone away “Is Seth Rollins, bravest emo I know”

“I resent that, Finn” Seth pouted before shaking Dean’s hand cautiously “Nice to meet you Ambrose”

“No, Seth, you represent that” Roman added, making Dean laugh as Seth let go of his hand. Roman took his, shaking it strongly with a smile that lit up his face “Good to meet you, looking forward to seeing you perform, Dean”

With that, Roman let go and wrapped his arms around Finn and Seth’s shoulders.

“We need to get going Bayley, we’ll see you tonight? You too, Dean?” Finn asked brightly.

“Of course I’ll be there!” Dean said quickly. Bayley shot him a quizzical look but nodded and said goodbye to the three who disappeared towards the locker room.

“Dean?”

“What? You’re right, I need to meet the rest of the roster” He laughed. She seemed happy with that response before standing up and grabbing his hand.

“C’mon! Let me introduce you to Sasha and Ember!”

*

Dean started to regret going out with the roster. That was until someone shoved a ‘complementary’ shot into his hand which he happily knocked back. The shot was followed by many ‘Oh? You’re the new guy? Can I buy you a drink?’ beers. But Dean could hold his drink well. It came with the territory of wrestling so many matches drunk in the indies. In fact, some people said he did his best promos wasted. That kind of thing wouldn’t happen here, but a man could dream.

Names flew in one ear and out the other as he shook hands and shamelessly flirted. Some stuck out to him of course. The girl with the lion’s mane of blonde hair was Charlotte Flair and the fiery Irish redhead that was with her was Becky Lynch. Then there was Kevin, a big bear of a man, who was wandering around hopelessly looking for his boyfriend? At least, Dean assumed it was his boyfriend from how he talked about how pretty he was. He also was complaining about how he’d have to brush his teeth before he’d even kiss him because he probably tasted like shit. Definitely his boyfriend then, not that Dean was judging. Bayley ended up herding Kevin away and Dean found himself standing alone at the side of the dancefloor.

He was just in the middle of admiring the hot Scottish guy he couldn’t remember the name of when a distinctly slurred and very familiar voice cut in from behind him.

“Hey there handsome, you planning on standing there all night?”

Dean raised an eyebrow as he turned. Seth Rollins certainly looked less clean cut in the dark lighting of the club and Dean didn’t mind it one bit. He had a glass of something half-finished in his hand and a grin that could light up the town. 

“Wasn’t planning on it sweetheart, I was hoping to dance with a pretty boy at some point” Dean smirked, lifting his beer to his lips. It took a second for his words to sink into Seth who reddened as soon as the words got through to him.

“I’ll let you know when I’m free”

Dean laughed, reaching up to scratch at his beard. The other man watched him move like a hawk. If he wasn’t as drunk as he was, Dean would have assumed he was planning something out “So it’s a timeshare deal with you?”

A shadow seemed to pass over Rollins’ face and he threw back the rest of his drink, setting it down on a nearby table “Something like that”

Dean frowned. He wasn’t going to pry or was he in any state to cope with Seth’s personal life. Besides, he’d only agreed to go to this thing because he was slightly attracted to Roman and Seth. He didn’t need to know someone’s life story if he was only looking for a quick fuck at most.

“Well, if you’re not up for a dance, baby, whatcha over here for?”

That seemed to stump Seth for a minute. His tongue flicked out over his bottom lip, sending Dean’s brain spiralling in all sorts of directions.

“Can’t find Roman” He said finally, tilting his head to one side with a nervous smile “You’re really handsome, you know?”

Dean stifled a laugh in his drink, fighting to keep a straight face as he put down his empty glass “Yeah, you said, though you’re not too bad yourself, sweetheart” His words brought a dumb smile to the face of Rollins who grabbed at Dean’s hand and tugged him towards the dancefloor.

“I take it back; you can have some of my time” 

Dean conceded to himself that he was a flirter, not a dancer. It was a fact made abundantly clear by the fluidity of Seth when he wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck while he nervously held onto Seth’s waist like he might break. He felt a little out of his depth as they swayed in time to the music towards the back of the dancefloor. They were mostly shielded by the dance circle that seemed to have sprung up like it was a middle school dance. The whole affair with Seth felt like a middle school dance. Or at least, what Dean assumed happened at those kinds of things.

Seth’s body felt hot as he leant against him, his head buried against his chest. A hand dropped from around his neck to trail almost teasingly down his front.

“Jesus Christ, Seth!” Dean almost squeaked. Seth looked upwards with his best impression of an innocent look. Dean’s eyes narrowed. It was a challenge to take up. And he had never been one to refuse a challenge from a pretty boy. He pressed his thigh against Seth’s crotch watching as his eyes widened slightly. The other man bit down on his lip as he stifled a noise.

“What?”

Instead of responding the other man grabbed a hold of the back of Dean’s neck pulling him down for a kiss. He was surprised to find Seth was gentle, all careful and considerate kisses to his lips. ‘Like a fucking nun’ he thought with a slight eye roll. It was cute for a taste but Dean had other plans that involved getting off.

He bit his teeth Seth’s plush lower lip, the motion jarring the other man enough to make him open his mouth. Before he could launch curses at Dean, he slid his tongue inside his mouth. It was enough to turn the swears to a low moan at the back of Seth’s throat. Dean was sloppier than usual, the alcohol really starting to get to him now. Seth tasted sweet with more than a little hint of alcohol which was practically intoxicating on its own. Dean dug his fingers brutally into Seth’s waist as he fought to keep them steady, the other man practically begging for Dean to do something that wasn’t just make out.

“What do you think of this, Sweetheart?” Dean growled lowly in his partner’s ear as they broke for air. Seth was rutting up against his leg beautifully, the soft whines enough to take his breath away “We could either do this real quick in the toilets here, or we can make a night of it and head to your room”

It was almost as if Seth’s brain had short circuited for a moment. 

“My room… fuck… need you to fuck me- good” He whined in response.

“Perfect answer, Sethie”

*

Dean felt like he’d won the lottery as he pushed Seth backwards onto the bed. He landed lightly, legs wrapping around Dean’s waist to pull him down with him. He managed to hold himself up on his arms as Seth nipped lightly at his lips with a smile that could light up the room. Seth’s hands were wandering however, splaying across Dean’s stomach as he wormed his way under his hoodie and shirt. 

“Seth you’re going to have to… let go of me if you want this” Dean grinned as the other man pouted and withdrew, He lay back on the bed, legs spread sinfully wide as he palmed himself through his jeans. Dean felt his breath catch in his throat as he tore his eyes away to undress, dropping his shirt and hoodie unceremoniously on the ground beside the bed. He looked up to meet Seth’s eyes, practically all pupil as he made an appreciative noise.

His hands went to his belt, undoing it and pulling it off with a sharp tug. Seth sat up and crept forward experimentally, his tongue wetting his bottom lip as he reached for Dean’s zipper. The man threaded his hands through the messy waves of Seth’s hair and shut his eyes with a heady growl. The sound of the zip followed by the feeling of a mouth pressing on his length through his boxers made his eyes jolt straight back open.

Seth was staring up at him with a cheeky smirk as his tongue traced a line downwards. Dean was almost glad of the grip he had on Seth’s hair as he tugged him back.

“Fucking tease”

“And what are you going to do about it, handsome?” 

Dean cocked his head to the side with a small smile. It was like Seth knew exactly how to get under his skin as he moved himself close enough to stick his tongue back out. With a groan, Dean pulled him back again, his free hand moving to push down his boxers as his cock sprung free. Seth swallowed, looking up at Dean with big innocent eyes.

“You know what to do I assume?” Dean asked, earning him a disapproving glare “Oh come on Sethie, be a good boy for me? You don’t have to give me those looks of yours, they just make me want to teach you a lesson”

Seth made a noise that was indescribable and went straight to Dean’s dick as he nodded almost reverently.

“Please?”

Dean raised an eyebrow. That was how Seth played? Now he was extremely interested. 

“Mouth open, move an inch and you’re in trouble” 

A smile played across Seth’s lips as he opened his mouth obediently, eyes completely fixed to Dean’s baby blues. Dean slowly rocked his hips forward, resting his head against Seth’s lips. Dean waited, making sure Seth was actually listening to him, before pressing forward. Seth’s eyes fluttered shut, one hand coming to rest on the side of Dean’s thigh his nails digging in lightly to the skin under his fingers.

“Sweetheart, you can- fuck”

Dean barely had to words out of his mouth before Seth’s tongue ran across the underside of Dean’s cock ruining his pattern of speech. His grip on the man’s hair tightened for a moment and the noise Seth made around him was so close to being heavenly it was sinful. He half-shut his eyes, watching the movement of Seth below him through his eyelashes.  
With a groan he pulled Seth back, his tongue still outstretched, leaving a trail from the head of Dean’s dick to his mouth.

“Fuck, you’re… Seth, god you’re so pretty, Sweetheart”

The smile that lit up his face in return was beautiful. Rollins knelt up to kiss Dean, running his hands down his shoulders before Ambrose could protest and shove him back. Dean happily leant against the kiss, the hand in Seth’s hair loosening and falling to cup his face.

“Fuck me?” Seth asked as he pulled back. His lips were bitten raw, his face washes of colour in the moonlight. If Dean were a little less drunk, he would have probably done something stupid. Like sang a song for him. But he wasn’t and he really needed to fuck Seth Rollins.

“You needed to ask?” Dean quipped back with his smirk. Seth scrunched up his face. Cute. Dean liked that dumb expression a lot “Fuck, protection an’ shit?”

Seth seemed to blank for a second before frowning “Shit he usually- no, my suitcase, zipper part condoms and lube”

Dean didn’t even question the first part of the statement. That was a problem for sober Dean. He kissed Seth quickly, watching his body loosen up again “If those shirt and jeans aren’t off by the time I find your shit, you’re in trouble”

Seth laughed. And Dean didn’t even have it in him to find it annoying.

*

“Jesus fucking Christ, sweetheart” Dean growled lowly as Seth parted around him, one hand tracing the tattoo below his hand and the other digging into his hip like his life depended on it. Seth pressed his face into the comforter, one hand stroking himself while he braced with the other. Dean hadn’t wasted time in prepping Seth, well nearly hadn’t wasted time. He’d grinned to himself as he sucked hickeys into the muscled thighs spread wide for him as Seth squirmed on the bed. That was something he’d have to remember later for in the quiet of a hotel room or bathroom with the shower on.

Seth’s voice pitched upwards into a whine as Dean pushed himself fully inside him before starting to pace his thrusts. It wasn’t like Roman, with his patient and measured strokes. Dean was erratic, admittedly hitting on exactly what Seth needed. He could have brutal but concise nearly anytime he wanted, but this? Seth hadn’t gotten off on this kind of thing in a long time.

“Dean- Fuck- Harder, right there, oh my god” He could barely form a coherent sentence as he was pressed against the mattress. His hand tightening on his cock as he tilted his hips upwards in an attempt to not get caught grinding down on the sheets. Dean seemed to take the movement as a challenge as he moved to dig his fingers into his shoulders and thrust into him harder.

“Oh, Sethie, fuck, you’re driving me crazy” Dean murmured huskily against his ear and that was all Seth needed.

With a slight cry, Seth came, painting streaks of white across himself and the sheets below him. He carefully leaned up to cause less of a mess. Dean followed soon after, settling inside Seth as he came, his shaking arms on either side of Seth barely able to keep him up. 

Seth wiggled forward, Dean’s softening cock pulled out of him, and rolled onto his back. He half watched as the other man cleaned up, going to the extent to throw Seth a towel. He grudgingly cleaned himself up and pulled on pyjama pants, sitting on the edge of the bed to watch Dean. He still felt fuzzy, more tired. The laid back and patted the spot next to him for Dean who simply plopped down beside him without even pulling on underwear.

‘There are worse things’ a part of Seth’s brain that was still fully functioning reminded him as he rolled over to snuggle against the chest beside him. Dean made a noise of surprise and curled his fingers in the hair, watching the dark brown eyes shut. 

“Need t’ do this again, sweetheart” Dean smiled to himself slightly before shaking his head. With any luck they would, but it probably wasn’t a great idea to get mixed up with his co-workers.  
He stayed up as he usually did, staring at the ceiling as he started to sober up a little, but unwilling to move. Finally, however, he shifted Seth off him and pulled on his clothes. He grinned down at one of those complimentary notepads and pens for a second before scribbling down a thank you. Seth deserved it. Even the kiss at the end.

Dean let himself out quietly, listening to the door click shut as he closed it. He was halfway along the corridor before he realised he’d left his hoodie. He checked his back pockets. Everything was there. Seth could keep the hoodie.


	15. Chapter 15

Seth’s mouth was hanging open in a pretty ‘O’ as Dean finally opened his eyes. It was a split second before he realised he’d probably been too detailed with the story. But he couldn’t help but be detailed. He’d never suffered from a fuzzy memory after drinking, especially not after a night like that. His whole body had been on fire and every memory was like a log being flung on it to keep it going.

“So yeah, uh… yeah that happened” He finished, his hand stilling on his collar bone. He frowned slightly as the other two shared a look between them that was unreadable to him. A slight jealousy stirred in his stomach. Just when he thought he could… no, he shook himself and sat up a little straighter, turning his attention to the other two “So, now I’ve bared my fucking soul about how pretty Seth was, how about we turn our attention to your couple’s therapy? I’ll play Dr Phil if you two want to say some shit”

Seth actually sniggered, almost impressed by Dean’s ability to shift conversational tone, but was quietened by a hand on his thigh. Roman splayed his fingers across his leg, a small smile playing on his lips when Seth didn’t attempt to run or bite his hand off like he expected.

“So, what’s the deal? Come on, I’m not as patient as Finn” Dean teased, leaning forward on this elbows. Seth swallowed slightly and gave a sidelong look at Roman who took a deep breath.

“Okay, Dean, here’s the thing, as you clearly know, Seth and I have a rather... strange relationship”

Seth frowned and folded his arms “What do you mean as he knows?”

Dean took a deep breath “We played a game and made out, it came up as things like that usually do when you’re trying to get someone to fuck you”

“Dean!” Roman said sharply, making the auburn haired man blush and look down at his hands.

“What? You’re handsome and wanted to get the dirt on you and Seth” He shrugged and nestled himself back into the couch. Seth grinned ear to ear which only served to spur him on “Ro was cute, Seth, but like I totally knew there was something going on, the information you get out of someone if you kiss them”

Seth nodded sagely before Roman picked up where he left off “Well, If that’s on the table too, that’s everything right?”

“mhm” Dean decided with a bob of his head, narrowing his eyes. His body was screaming otherwise however. He wanted to explain in detail exactly why he’d even let Roman and Seth drag him along to this point. He’d never had grievances about dumping people out before when they didn’t suit him. But this was different, like a rollercoaster he just didn’t want to get off.

“So wh-where exactly does that leave us?” Seth asked quietly. Dean and Roman didn’t miss the soft stutter or the eyes fixed to the blank TV.

The two shared a look, Roman chewing his lip slightly as he decided on how to deal with the situation. Dean sat back, this was Roman’s domain, comfort was so ingrained in him naturally while Dean knew how to give one hell of a pity blow job and that didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would be particularly helpful at that moment.

Roman laid a large hand on the hunch of Seth’s shoulders, tracing soothing circles with his palm.

“Seth, I think we’ve all done same things that were clearly done out of passion and confusion, would I be right, Deano?” Roman asked. Seth twisted his head almost imperceptibly to watch Dean who nodded enthusiastically to comfort him. The tension in his back seemed to lessen slightly and Roman smiled “I think we start fresh, right?”

Seth swallowed sharply, his head whipping up so fast it almost startled Dean “Start again? You mean like.. no…?” He trailed off with a gaze upwards to meet Roman’s eyes.

“Just till we work out how to navigate something like that without hurting everyone” Roman reassured Seth. He nodded slightly and relaxed back. Dean felt a tug in his stomach which he remedied by wrapping an arm around Seth’s shoulder’s rubbing his arm.

“Cheer up, Sethie, you can wait for whatever it is, right? Just so there’s no murders involved?” Dean asked gingerly and for a second, the corners of Seth’s lips twitched. He was giving Dean an inch and he was going to take it and run a mile “Only in ring murders, please, though if you have to hide a body I have a particular set of skills that could probably help out a little there”  
Seth laughed.

And Dean nearly crumpled under the sheer weight of his pride.

*

Seth was sprawled out over the top of Roman, his head handing off the sofa as he intently stared at the phone above his face. He had been rereading the texts from Dean for the last hour. He’d never been so glad for something to make sense in his life. Dean was sat at their feet like a puppy watching the TV while talking animatedly about anything and everything that seemed to spring into his mind. And Seth and Roman soon learned it was a busy mind.

He poked around the idea of sasquatches and how ‘Seth could probably be big foot’s brother; I mean, that hair!’ which earned him the lightest tap to the back of the head Seth could muster. Dean had grinned and rolled on to talking about werewolves with no stoppage with a ‘Yeah, I could totally see us as a wolf pack’. Roman chucked at that and Dean found himself sitting a little taller. He somehow managed to steamroll into his time in the indies, talking about the weird people he’d met and the dingiest places he’d had the shit kicked out of him that  
Rollins was only too happy to keep him talking. He was good at it. Until he was starting to get worried with how Dean was sitting.

“Deano?” Seth asked with raised brows as he pulled himself upwards to sit, legs still across Roman’s lap. Dean lolled his head to the side with a lazy smile that seemed to turn him all soft at the edges.

“What’s up, brotha?” He rocked forward on his knees, running a hand through the messy curls on his forehead.

“Dude, that cannot be comfortable, come here” Seth whipped his legs off Roman, shifting along the sofa to give a space between himself and Roman for the man. Dean frowned and rocked backwards on his knees and Seth visibly winced. Like any good scientist, Dean repeated his actions just to see if the wince would happen again. Instead he got Roman.

“Dean, come on up, uce, or Seth will drag you up” Roman advised.

Even with that inconclusive evidence, he pushed himself up onto the couch with his arms. Seth let out a sigh of relief and rubbed at his knee with a frown, considering Dean who nestled himself back between the two.

“Better?” He asked with a cheery grin. Seth shook his frown away, glancing at Roman with a small smile.

“Much” Seth decided, shifting closer to Dean and laying his head on his shoulder. There was a small nervous chuckle from Dean before he shifted himself to nestle his own head on Roman’s shoulder.

“God, you two are like puppies” Roman laughed, reaching around to wrap his arm around both men’s shoulders “It’s like you need petted 24/7”

“Yeah-” Dean yawned and stretched his hand outwards, flexing his wrist slowly “But you’re the Big Dog so I feel it’s your duty to make sure we receive said pats” Seth rumbled his assent before shifting to lie across their laps, stretching his legs out across what remained of the couch, but it was much better him. Dean flushed slightly before resting a testing hand on Seth’s stomach, waiting for the growl to move it. But it never came.

“I second that. Where’s my pats Roman? Jeeze, it’s not like I’ve had a traumatic day or anything” Seth pouted, looking up at Roman with big eyes. Reigns sighed, trying to stop the smile on his face as he ran his fingers through Seth’s hair.

Dean smiled as he felt Seth’s stomach shifting as he breathed, pressing his face into Roman’s mane of dark hair. Safe. It felt safe.

Dean hadn’t felt that in a long time.

*

Roman wasn’t sure when they had all fallen asleep in the dogpile on the rug after Dean had insisted that it would be much better to watch the movie he’d picked on the floor. It was a snort of laugher from Finn and the flash of a phone camera that jolted him awake. He opened his eyes with a snap, Seth and Dean already sitting bolt upright. Seth was smiling so Roman didn’t immediately want to murder anyone.

Finn was standing on the sofa, his phone in one hand and a bag full of what he assumed by the smell was take out in the other. A growl in Roman’s stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten anything since he had dinner after the show.

“We bought take out seeing as it’s like 3pm and none of you have had breakfast” Sami piped up, leaning over the back of the sofa with a smirk. He looked like the cat who’d gotten the cream “We’re going to send you all that photo everytime you fall out, by the way”

“My idea” Kevin stated matter-of-factly as he bumbled around the small kitchen area to find plates. Finn’s stellar smile lit up as he dropped to sit on the sofa, turning the phone screen to face them. Dean and Seth made similar noises of embarrassment and winced. Roman however smiled.

The two were piled on top of him in the photo, their heads on his chest and their limbs a messy who’s who as they tangled together. Roman was curled around them like a protective barrier, a sleepy smile on his face as he laid an arm over their chests.

“Deano, there’s your wolf pack” Roman said with a nudge at Dean’s side. The scruffy man stole another look at the photo before grinning.

“A-fucking-woo, brother” Dean replied with a sideways glance at Seth who had his head in his hands trying to hide a red flush on his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, have you two gone crazy while we were out?” Kevin asked as he placed the plates and cutlery on the side table with a jolt. Sami shot him a disapproving look “What? Babe? Dean’s out here howling and Roman’s starting a fuckin’ wolf pack, at least Seth’s still… well Seth’s still Seth”

“Thanks a bunch, Kev!” Seth said brightly as he looked up at his friend with the widest smile he could manage.

“Do I sense sarcasm, Rollins?” Kevin blinked rapidly, Seth’s smile sliding into genuine territory as his friend spoke “Cause if I do, expect that photo to be part of your titantron unless I get an apology, smartass”

“No sarcasm intended!” Seth rolled his eyes as he stood up, leaving the other two on the floor, dropping onto the couch beside Finn who was gazing at his phone like he'd won a title. Sami rolled over the back of the sofa, nearly catching Finn with his elbow as he settled down. 

“I have had a whopping 3 coffees since the day began so if someone wants to feed me that would be great” Sami said with puppy dog eyes in Kevin’s general direction. Kevin snorted and shook his head.

“You wish, Sami Zayn”

*

“You’re impossible” Seth complained half-heartedly as Dean curled up in the gap between his and Roman’s legs as they sat on the floor of the locker room. Dean rolled his neck in response, knocking his head against Seth’s knee. With a laugh, Roman reached down to ruffle Dean’s hair, earning him a low grumble in response. They were waiting on Finn appearing from his match and had taken up residence on the floor next to their bags. It had become more of a common occurrence for them to end up together in a pile over the last few days since they’d made up. Sometimes Finn would be dragged into it, but mostly it was the three of them curled up in weird places backstage or in hotel rooms.

“If I’m impossible, you’re awful” Dean pouted.

“Pleased to meet you both, Impossible and Awful, I’m Roman” Roman cut in cheerfully. Both of the men groaned in stereo, Seth slapping Roman’s bicep lightly “What did I do?” Roman asked with a smile that he couldn’t hide and turned his attention back to his phone.

Dean sat up and wormed his way back against the wall between the two, closing his eyes as he tapped gently but quickly against his upper thigh. With a yawn, Seth leant his head on Dean’s shoulder, watching entranced at the patterns being drummed out but his friend. It was like Dean was always buzzing with energy even when he looked like he was relaxing. Seth wouldn’t be surprised if Dean did the same things in his sleep. However, his quick pattern seemed to slow down a little as Seth leant against him providing a comforting weight against his shoulder.

“How do you feel?” Dean asked quietly, opening his eyes to look sideways at Seth who wrinkled his nose in confusion. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly “About your next match, dumbass”

“You need to learn to give some context, Dean!” Roman interjected, nudging the scruffy man with his elbow. Dean stuck his tongue out at Roman in response, turning back to Seth to wait for his answer.

“Good, nervous I guess, kinda sad I’m not beating you up anymore though” Seth decided, with a toothy grin in his friend’s direction. Dean flinched slightly, his stomach clenching unnaturally at Seth’s words. Thankfully the moment was skimmed over as Finn appeared through the door and Seth’s head left his shoulder. He shook his head slightly and shifted forward to grab his hoodie from where he’d tossed it to make the floor a little more comfortable. He realised it still had that Seth smell clinging to it, and there was Roman too, both warm and vibrant in contrast to the stale smell of smoke lingering.

“Where are you goin’ Deano?” Finn asked with a slight huff as he threw himself down on the bench “I don’t even get a hello tonight?”

“Hate to love ya and leave ya, but I need a smoke break, Finn” He answered, forcing a smile onto his face. He was glad neither Roman or Seth could see his face properly from this angle. Finn seemed to take this as good enough though, pulling a face as Dean fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket “Meet you outside”

He could hear a slight sigh rumble from Roman as he slipped out of the room and padded his backstage to a door to the outside of the arena. He plopped himself down rather unceremoniously on a half wall, cigarette already hanging out his mouth, closing his eyes as he fumbled for his lighter. His hands shook slightly as he lit it, posture tensing as he took a drag

Internally he chided himself for how he had reacted to Seth’s words. He was a professional wrestler for Christs sakes, if he wasn’t told he was going to be beat into a bloody pulp at least once a week he wasn’t doing his job right. But it was Seth, outside the ring, outside a promo, making a joke and his brain couldn’t register it for some damn reason. He exhaled smoke, studying the burning end of his cigarette with interest as he attempted to quash the emotions starting to well up. 

“Fuck it” He muttered darkly, throwing the half-finished cigarette to the floor and crushing it with his heel. It wasn’t helping calm his nerves or doing anything remotely useful.

“You should really quit” A quiet voice behind him offered. Kevin Owens hung over the railing of the small flight of stairs behind him scratching his beard lazily. Dean huffed a laugh and tilted his head to look up at the other man “Feel like you’ve heard that one before though”

“Like a broken record, Owens, got another track?”

The man seemed to consider Dean for a moment before shaking his head “Nothing you’d find useful, only came out here to catch my breath while Sami talks to people”

Dean nodded. He had decided he liked both Kevin and Sami a lot, but Sami was far more his speed whereas the man he was looking at tended to run a little slower and was maybe a little quieter. Finn had described Kevin as being a bear and it had taken Dean an entire 15 minutes to stop laughing because ‘Fucking hell Finn, you know exactly what a bear is, I don’t need to know about Kevin’s dating profile’. But eventually he’d got the comparison. Gruff and slightly intimidating at first but as soon as you got to know him he was protective and caring. 

“I don’t get how he’s so good with people” Kevin muttered, more to himself than Dean, stepping off the stairs and joining him on the half wall. 

“Practice” Dean supposed, running a hand through his hair “That’s how you get good at anything” ‘Like hiding your feelings or running away’ his mind supplied unhelpfully. Kevin’s nod reassured him that he wasn’t a mind reader and Dean took that as permission to ramble “I like talking but a lot of the time I hate the people who I’m talking to, like that dude at the reception desk who looked me up and down when I asked for a spare key card, but you just roll with the punches and Sami is… very good at that”

Kevin laughed before the sound of the door opening made his head whip up. The smile that grew on his face was enough to tell Dean who it was.  
“Speak of the Devil and he will appear” Kevin looked starry-eyed as Sami appeared in front of them “Not saying you’re the devil, you just have a 6th sense”

“My ‘Kevin’s talking about me’ senses were tingling” the ginger man answered before smiling at Dean who lifted his hand in a wave “Hey Dean, hope Kev wasn’t giving away all my deep dark secrets”

Dean snorted and shook his head “What? Like your top 5 Beatles songs?”

Sami rolled his eyes in response, trying to repress his smile “That's a list I keep close to my chest, Dean, doubt Kev knows. Coming mon amour?” He stopped and offered Kevin his hand, which Kevin gladly took, hauling him to his feet “We good for movie night tomorrow anyway?” He asked quickly with a grin.

“Course, don’t want to be stuck in a motel room with Finn all night” He chuckled. The two headed off for their car and Dean resigned himself to counting how many cars were left in the lot in the fading twilight.

He would give anything in the world for a distraction. His mind was conjuring up figures in the semi darkness and it was starting to get to him. He lit another cigarette and returned to his new favourite hobby of counting the minutes till someone came to get him. 

It happened sooner than he expected, the three of his friends spilling out, talking loudly to each other. He felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder and he tilted his head to meet Roman’s gaze.

“Ready to go?” He asked quietly as Finn and Seth bounced off towards the car. Dean nodded and stubbed out his cigarette on the wall before standing “Suppose Sami was harassing you about movie night?”

“You betcha” Dean said before pausing. He looked upwards at Roman with a lopsided grin, studying his outline in the orange-yellow of the streetlamps. Roman smiled back before resting a hand on Dean’s lower back. The man leaned against him as they kept walking. These were the touches that Dean had come to crave, soft and guiding from Roman or tight and teasing from Seth, everything made his skin feel like it was on fire. They ambled together towards the car, Seth already in the driver’s seat and Finn nestled in the back “Are we all on for movie night then?"

“Of course we are” Roman replied with a slight laugh before letting go of Dean to get into the front passenger seat beside Seth “We wouldnt miss it, or the chance to hang out with you, for the world”

Dean’s stomach tumbled, but not uncomfortably. He felt warm inside as Finn leant over, giggling and grinning ear to ear, to show him a dumb picture of Roman from the night. For Dean, in that moment nothing had ever felt as safe as the back of a car and his three friends.


	16. Chapter 16

“They’re all really fucked up” Kevin commented unprompted over the top of the fancy coffee cup he was attempting to balance on top his own Starbucks cup. Sami raised his eyebrows questioningly and leant forward to take the cup from him, pulling the top off to take a drink. 

“Clarify, Kev” Sami frowned as Finn shifted uncomfortably on the bench before setting the coffee back down. The trio Seth, Dean and Roman were running late to the venue, which according to Seth’s texts were because ‘Dean wouldn’t wake up from his nap’. Not that he seemed entirely annoyed. Sami leant forward to touch Kevin’s shoulder “You can’t just say things without context, mon ange, not everyone can see into your mind”

Finn laughed as Kevin looked up with a slight jolt. Even Sami couldn’t supress the laugh.

“Did I say that one out loud?” He asked before smiling slightly. Kevin hardly laughed, the smile was less rare. It had a radiant quality to it that lit up Sami like nothing else, even Finn felt “Not liked fucked up, like… they’re… it’s all just really confusing to me. Maybe you get it better, Finn?”

Finn shook his head in response “Nah man, I don’t fully get it either, they’re my best friends but I don’t really want to ask what happened between them. They’ll tell me when they’re ready”

It earned both of them a slight snort from Sami’s direction. They both turned to look at him and he grinned incredulously “Oh please, I thought I would be the last person to work it out” When he received no answers from either he continued “Roman is safety and comfort, Seth’s affection and fun and Dean is… all impulsivity and hopeful, they’ll be the dream team when they get over all of… what happened”

“Makes sense, plus… they seem to be getting on well” Kevin said with a sense of finality, reaching over to take Sami’s coffee. Sami rolled his eyes before standing up. Kevin reached forward to catch his hand before he walked away, squeezing it tightly. “Thanks, I’ll pay you back”

“Well I hoped you would, mon amour, I’m gonna go talk to Becky, I’ll be back”

Sami bounced away towards the door out to the hallway.

Kevin smiled after him. The look only disappeared after he pulled a face as he swallowed down the coffee, looking over at Finn with a clear disgusted look “Jesus Christ, this… God this is gross, how does he drink this shit”

“Artisan Coffee?”

“Artisan Coffee.”

* 

Seth was about to strangle the guy on the radio giving the traffic report as they crawled at a snail’s pace down the street towards the hotel. 

“If he says-“

“That there’s a traffic jam one more time you’re going to rip the radio out and shove it down his throat? How about we just skip the show and drive across the city to do it?” Suggested Dean, leaning over the seat to speak to the men in the front seat. He reached his arm in between the two to change the radio station “I’m also interested in getting him to shut up”

Roman snorted and turn the wheel slightly, glancing from the road to Dean and Seth quickly before reverting back to staring at the line of traffic in front of them. It had been a good 30 minutes in this one queue but Roman still had his attention fixed on the slow moving traffic while Seth had been texting Finn almost consistently and had taken up an ongoing vendetta against the radio. Dean was starting to get visibly uncomfortable confined in the back seat and had unbuckled his seat belt so he could stretch out and throw himself about to his heart’s content. He liked being somewhere that wasn’t so confined. 

He threw himself back down onto the seat, rolling onto his back to stare upwards at the roof of the car. Seth did a concerned half glance towards the back seat, making sure Dean was okay before settling back.

“So, I was wondering, are you two were free tomorrow around 6ish?” Roman asked. Dean jolted upright in response.

“Why?” He asked with a toothy smile, tilting his head to one side as he leant forward to cram himself between the gap in the seats. Seth turned as well with a frown of confusion. Roman smiled, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. 

“Just wondering” He replied, shaking his head slightly. 

“Ro!” Seth whined, pouting “Come on, let us know, that’s so unfair to bait us like that”

Roman rolled his eyes and watched as the traffic began to pick up, turning his attention towards the two as he relaxed into the role of driving again. Dean and Seth both pouted and threw themselves back into their seats with matching pouts. 

“I’ll tell you after the show” He decided, earning him a dramatic huff from Seth “Can you text Finn and tell him we’ll be five minutes, please Seth?”

“Only if you tell us whats happening tomorrow” He bargained with a grin as he held his thumb above the send button. Roman sighed and shook his head slowly.

“I have dinner reservations at 6pm tomorrow” Roman said finally and Seth pressed send before he registered the other man’s words fully. Dean nearly jumped into the front seat in excitement, grabbing Seth’s shoulder for safety as Roman pressed the break as they came to traffic lights “And I know you’re both not busy, I just thought I’d ask if you wanted to actually come, you don’t have to come with me though because I’m sure I can pass them off on other people”

“Roman! You’re being 110 percent serious?” Dean asked as his voice pitched upwards with clear excitement.

“Of course I am” He answered flatly before turning his head to look at Dean with a small smile “Also, Dean, please sit down and put your seatbelt on or you’ll die”

Dean sighed and let go of Seth. He threw himself down onto the seat and put his seatbelt back on with a pout at Roman in the mirror “Jesus, can do dad”

“I’m in” Seth nodded as he stuck his phone down on his lap “How about you, Dean?”

“How fancy is this place?” Dean questioned slightly nervously “Please tell me it’s like just Taco Bell or something” 

“It’s fancy” Roman stated flatly, confirming Dean’s worst nightmare. He shut his eyes tightly, leaning his head back against the head rest with a painful wince.

Dean had maybe… 2 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts and he had no intention of changing that. But it was a special occasion. Maybe he could go shopping, and preferably take someone who had some sort of dress sense with him. His mind went straight to someone like Finn. After all, Dean had seen him pull a whole suit out of his case once and he’d been told it was his emergency suit. He probably knew what to wear to a dinner and wouldn’t tell the whole roster about the tragedy that was his wardrobe. 

“Hey? Dean? You still in there?” 

Dean opened his eyes, jumping slightly at the touch of a hand against his thigh. Seth was leaning through the back door, both his and Dean’s bags under his arm and his hand on Dean. He rubbed his eyes and nodded, swinging his legs out wide to lightly kick at Seth’s shins with a shit-eating grin. Seth huffed loudly and moved out of the way to let Dean out of the car. 

“Asshole” Seth muttered under his breath. Dean stuck his tongue out in response as his bag was thrust at him rather dramatically.

“Play nice boys, Seth don’t be annoying” Roman said smoothly, placing a hand in the centre of both men’s backs, pushing them forward. He spurred them both into the arena and through security without any issues and then straight to the locker room.

Finn nearly dived on them as they walked through the door, dragging the trio to the bench where he had set up alongside Kevin and Sami. Kevin shot the newcomers a grin as they approached, his hands curled up in the shirt Sami always wore. Kevin was surprisingly tactile, especially with Sami, never short of hair-ruffles or cheek kisses or bone breaking hugs when it came to the other man. 

“I thought you three were dead but Finn assured me you were texting him” Kevin said with a slight laugh as he looked upwards at Seth “Though, I was pretty convinced it was your ghost texting him, Seth, not even death could stop you complaining”

Seth looked mock hurt by the suggestion for a moment before throwing himself down next to Kevin. He chewed his lip for a moment before countering “And not even having your boyfriend around stops you being grumpy” which Kevin snorted at, letting go of the shirt.

“Stop talking and get changed” 

“That’s what someone who doesn’t have a comeback would say, Kevin” Dean chimed in as he dropped his bag down at Seth’s side. He tugged off his hoodie and shirt in one before rifling through his bag for his tape.

“What are you two? A tag team trying to annoy me?” Kevin asked incredulously, his eyebrows shooting upwards.

Roman started to laugh at the idea, making the tips of Seth’s ears turn red “Can you imagine those two as a tag team? They’d kill everyone”

Finn rolled his eyes and nudged Roman with his elbow “Hey, whats the worst that could happen?”

They settled back into their usual routines as people came in drips and drabs into the locker room. It looked like they weren’t the only ones who were late. Sami eventually bounded back into the room and curled up around Kevin, blabbering on about their match. Once he was sure Seth and Dean were thoroughly distracted by their friends, Roman cornered Finn before his match.

They walked together through backstage, Finn unconsciously playing with the collar of his jacket.

“I have a question” Roman said slowly, looking down at his friend with a slight smile as he jumped at the sound of Roman’s voice. Finn was very much in the zone and Roman was surprised he’s let him walk with him this far. 

“Yeah?” 

“This is going to sound crazy” Roman prefaced, running a hand through his hair nervously. Finn paused stock still, a frown creasing his brow with worry.

“Go on, bother?”

“Can I like… have a relationship with two people? I’m taking Dean and Seth out and I don’t want to seem stupid asking”

Finn’s face split into a grin, patting Roman’s bicep encouragingly “Roman, brother, Of course you can” Roman seemed to let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Finn sighed in relief “As long as you communicate and both of them are peachy with it, Ro, nothing could ever go wrong”

“Good”

“You really love them both, brother?” Finn asked, squeezing the arm under his hand “Like really, really? I don’t want anything to go wrong for any of you”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, Finn”

“Good luck, go get ‘em, tiger”

*

It didn’t take Dean much effort to convince Finn to take him shopping. Finn was more than happy to help as soon as he found out why he needed him and enthusiastically, much to Dean’s annoyance, shook a sleeping Dean awake at 9am sharp. It was nearly 6 hours later now and he was sweaty, hungry and just about done with the concept of clothing entirely.

Dean stared scrutinising himself in the mirror of the changing room, attempting to decide if the outfit Finn, with a little additional consultation from Finn’s group chat with Aj, Luke and Karl (They’d been far more helpful than Dean had originally assumed they would be), actually looked okay on him. However, he still looked himself up and down, picking out flaws with it as he went. There didn’t seem to be enough space to flail about in the jacket and he couldn’t undo the tie to get his hand under his collar to touch at his skin. The trousers felt itchy and weirdly tight his legs. Sure, he knew he looked good in it, but it wasn’t him at all. Dean had never been much for suits and formal wear.

With a sigh he stepped outside the curtain, coming face to face with Finn who gave an appreciative nod.

“I hate it, I feel pretty fucking dumb” Dean stated plainly, making the woman who was picking up items people had left jump. Finn shrugged and moved forward to have a closer look.

“You look handsome but it’s not exactly screamin’ Dean to me… reckon ditch the tie, it’s a dinner not a dance” Finn advised, hands moving to undo it for him “Maybe no jacket, do you have a leather one? The shirt’s nice on its own… just unbutton the top button”

Each suggestion was carried out efficiently by Finn as he hummed over the finer points of the outfit. Dean was just ecstatic to have most of his issues out of the” way by the time he Finn had taken a photo for Aj to compare to the original Dean.

“Well, you scrub up pretty well, Dean” Finn grinned finally after receiving confirmation that it was indeed an acceptable look for a fancy dinner. Dean looked in the mirror in the changing room, running a hand through his hair as he looked at himself back in his usual clothes. This was him. The other outfit was still uncomfortable but whatever magic Finn had worked on how to make it more him had done the trick and he felt less self-conscious about the affair “I don’t know why you’re worried about what you’re wearing, though”

“Roman said he place was fancy, I just assumed that t-shirt and jeans wouldn’t be acceptable”

“Honestly, Seth and Ro don’t care what you wear, they like you just fine in the jeans and shirts” Finn sighed as Dean emerged with the clothes under one arm “If you showed up in your underwear they’d be all for it” Dean considered the idea as they made their way to the check out before Finn cut in “You are wearing clothes, Dean Ambrose, we don’t want to traumatise people”

Luckily for Finn, the only thing semi-traumatising for anyone that day was the price of the clothes. Dean blanched as he put his pin number in, silently praying that he could cover it. It had been a long time since he’d bought anything particularly expensive.

“We should have gone to Target” He grumbled lowly as they left the store, his purchases in a far-too-fancy bag.

“And have me get distracted and buy kids toys? Good try Deano”

“Worth a shot” He muttered grimly as they started the walk back to the hotel. 

Finn clapped his back, giving him his supportive smile “You want to go get a beer? First round’s mine and we’ll be back before you’re meant to be at the restaurant”

Dean tossed the idea of going out in his mind, weighting up his options quietly. He trusted Finn would get him back in time but he didn’t exactly trust himself. He was beginning to get nervous about the whole affair now and when he was nervous he’d gladly knock back enough alcohol to completely put him out. He shook his head quickly

“I’m good brotha” He assured Finn “Plus I’m gonna need a lot of work to get ready for this thing?”

“So… that means you’re taking a shower?” 

Dean laughed, throwing an arm around Finn and ruffling his hair lovingly “First of all, how dare you, second of all, can I borrow your shower gel?”

Finn pulled a face and wiggled out from under Dean’s arm, trying to look scornful of his friend and keep his urge to smile under check “Jesus christ, yes, anything for you”

*

Seth bumped his knee nervously under the table. He looked over at Roman who was dressed impeccably, his hair drawn back off his face as he took a drink from his glass. He’d been struggling to not stutter over his words since he’d seen Roman emerge from the shower in their room. He’d never really been lost for words when it came to Roman but now he was starting to see why everyone knew he was entirely love-struck. The restaurant was relatively busy and Seth said a quiet thank you for it so they didn’t stick out. Roman checked his watch, looking up at Seth with a small smile that made his stomach do a flip.

“Stop shaking your leg about, uce Dean’s only a minute late he’s not going to not turn up” Roman said softly, he reached under the booth table to pat Seth’s leg. Seth turned bright red and nodded. It was cute that Roman thought his nerves were all down to being a no show. 

“Yeah well, he’s never been punctual” Seth countered before catching a glimpse of a well-dressed man with messy auburn hair bee lining towards their table. He nearly choked as Dean gave them a smile as he sat down beside Roman.

“Sorry, Finn was fussing over my hair” He mumbled apologetically. Looking up at the other two with wide puppy-dog eyes.

“Finn should fuss over your hair more often” Roman observed before adding “Though, I still think I prefer messy you, babe”

Dean practically looked to Seth like he’d ascended at the praise, snatching a menu from the table to bury his head in. Seth had to stifle a laugh as Roman seemed to completely miss the flustered blush staining his cheeks “Thanks brother… uhh, you guys ordered yet?”

“We haven’t yet, waiting on Cinderella” Seth said sarcastically, punctuating it with a gentle nudge to his leg under the table, making him jolt with a slight growl “You look handsome, Deano, really”

The blush on Dean’s cheeks seemed to double as he put the menu down with a snap, leaning over the table with a grin. He was practically back to his cocky self, minus the obvious effect the flattery was having on him “Well you look delicious, baby boy” 

Roman made a noise somewhere in-between a laugh and a sigh, catching the back of Dean’s jacket and tugging him back down to sit on the seat “Sit down and stop trying to rile each other up”

“Sorry Roman” The two said in almost unison, rolling their eyes as they realised.

“Good boys”

Seth and Dean shared a look. It was almost like it was second nature for Roman to praise them in the slightest.

‘We’re so fucked’ Seth mouthed and Dean couldn’t help but nod along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because of Dean's return, Takeover, Summerslam and the Shield reuniting I kept putting off uploading this chapter. But, here it is! Hope you enjoyed it!


	17. Chapter 17

Dean rocked back and forward in his seat as he shovelled food into his mouth in between too long glances at Seth and Roman and attempting to throw in jokes. Seth wasn’t nearly as fidgety, his attention mostly focused on Roman as he talked but every so often he would cast a glance at Dean that he thought the other man wouldn’t notice. To Dean, Roman looked entirely oblivious to the clear looks he was getting from them both the whole way through the meal.

“You just dropped ice-cream on your pants” Seth observed, tipping his head to one side. Dean blinked once before noticing Seth was in fact looking at him “Well, I don’t know if it’s hit your pants yet but it’s really making its way down there”

Roman turned to look at Dean, raising his eyebrow almost perfectly in a way that made him feel like he was about to be scolded. A smile flickered across Roman’s face “You couldn’t make it through dinner without making a mess?”

Dean rolled his eyes and looked down at his shirt. There was indeed a long trail of ice-cream that had managed to make its way down the front of his new shirt to the top of his belt. With a sigh he swiped it up on his fingers and offered it to Roman with a grin. The other man batted his hand away and pulled a face. With a shrug, Dean pressed the remnants to his mouth, listening to Seth’s groan of annoyance.

“Wow, thanks Seth, I would never have known if you didn’t stare at me all the time” He said, probably a little too loudly for the crowded restaurant. Dean had almost forgotten how fun it was to make Seth uncomfortable. The man shifted in his seat before staring down at the table with a frown that could just about kill him. On second thoughts it wasn’t that fun “Sorry”  
Seth looked up with a face that was a mixture of surprise and genuine horror.

“You just… apologised… to… me?”

“I forgot where we were, I don’t need to be an ass and shout about you all the time” He muttered back, folding his arms. There was a brief touch to his back as Roman… rewarded him for being nice? Dean shook his head and fixed Roman with a positively deadly look “Don’t do that, I’m not a…” He trailed off and bit the inside of his lip. Positive reinforcement was for kids and dogs that had to go to training and Dean firmly believed he wasn’t either. It reminded him too briefly of being rewarded for not causing a fuss or not fidgeting. It sent a slightly cold shiver up his spine. He didn’t mind the pet names, hell, Roman probably wasn’t aware what they did to him, but this was definitely something Roman practiced. He’d seen it in the touches to Seth’s face and hair but he’d never particularly pushed it towards him. He was surprised he’d taken as long as he had. Dean was all about touch, but not like this.

“Sorry” Roman jerked away, causing Seth’s brow to furrow even more with worry.

“Just not used to people touching me, it’s dumb, not an issue” He shook it away, before tossing down his wallet onto the table “I’m gonna go smoke, pay for my share and I’ll meet you outside”

Seth and Roman both began to protest, but Dean practically sprinted from the room. He found himself outside and definitely leaning against the rental car belonging to Roman and Seth. For a second, he toyed about with the idea of calling up Finn or a cab, anything to get him away so he wouldn’t have to deal with practically freaking out over Roman touching him. 

Besides, Roman had touched him before, they’d made out too. He’d wanted them to make out because… things weren’t going well. He liked Roman and Seth. Platonically, romantically, sexually, even liked this whatever in between he could get. But when he’d kissed Roman that first time, Roman was worried about Seth. Now, he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d wanted to do it or if he’d just done it to calm down Roman. He could feel panic setting in as he lit his cigarette.

The second time, Roman had kissed him. In the changing room, back against the metal in the locker room. Because it was Dean who was worried this time. He felt sick. Was this what it was like to have a relationship with anyone? He’d only ever had it this way. He shook his head and reminded himself to stop overanalysing. One bad boyfriend, one bad boyfriend and he could barely stand the touch of someone unless he was fucked up emotionally or otherwise. 

He made a decision to stop counting them as kisses. He needed to stop thinking about them anyway. The gentle curve of Roman’s lips and the soft skin surrounded by scratchy beard was enough to give anyone problems. Dean shoved it all to the side and focused on the cigarette.

He half expected Roman and Seth to not come out. But they did. Waiting wasn’t one of Dean’s strong suits. He got distracted easily and every time he took his eyes off the end of his lit cigarette for a minute, his brain went to all sorts of places he’d told it not to go. 

“We need to buy you one of those fidget toys” Seth announced as he pressed Dean’s wallet into his hand and tugged open the door to the backseat for him. Dean snorted and put out his cigarette before falling into the open door. Seth sighed “I’m serious, take your mind off smoking”

“They’re for kids”

Seth gave him a disapproving look before climbing in beside him, prodding him along the backseat “Yeah, well they could be for Deans too because ours just so happens to run off every-“  
“Seth” Romans voice was low and warning as he started the car.

“Yeah well… I’m buying you one” Seth said finally, turning his head to stare out the window with a sigh. Dean resigned himself to the same fate though not as dramatically. Seth reached for his hand across the back seat, giving it a small squeeze. Dean looked up in surprise, glancing at their hands intertwined then up at Seth who actually smiled at him softly “You okay, Deano?”

“Yeah, fine” He answered gruffly, looking down at his knees in the dark. Roman made a noise that sounded like he didn’t believe him which was, in all honesty, fair. Dean didn’t believe himself. 

“Talk about it later?” Roman asked, glancing in the mirror. Dean shrugged noncommittally, but still he didn’t move his hand away from Seth who was busy stroking his thumb across Dean’s knuckles. Roman sighed “We’re talking about it later”

Dean chided himself internally and sat up a little straighter. He willed himself into a positive mood, giving Seth’s hand a squeeze before pulling away.

“Oh come on Ro, no need to ruin a good night” Dean reprimanded with a smile. Roman sighed, taking one last look at Dean before settling his eyes back on the road. A weird guilt seemed to settle over Dean but he shook it off as simply being nerves “We’re going back to your room, right? Just so I can let Finn know, in case he thinks that I’m passed out in a ditch”

“I mean, it’s likely” Seth mused with slight smile. Dean laughed and reached over to bat a hand at Seth who fluttered his eyelashes innocently before catching Dean by the wrist “You want me to text him?”

Roman chuckled as he glanced back at the two in the backseat. He was pretty much ecstatic to see them getting along so well considering the mood that Dean had been in when he had left the restaurant. He’d considered not actually putting phase two of his plan into action, driving Dean back to the hotel and dropping him back at his room rather than coming with Seth and himself. Now however, he had his heart set on going through with it all. His stomach was a bundle of knots. There were only two real outcomes, one where everything went right, and the one where both Seth and Dean would hate him for the next few years at least. He was determined to at least see it to the end.

*

He pulled into the hotel car park and Dean practically rolled out of the car and onto the concrete. Seth followed out of the same side to catch Dean’s wrist with a comment about him running out into traffic like a kid which Dean stuck out his tongue to. He then reached out for Roman as he climbed out of the car. Roman complied, letting Seth shuffle close to him as they headed for the hotel. He was glad to have Seth and Dean hanging onto him anyway.

Dean pushed himself practically up against both of them in an effort to avoid any recognition with people he knew. Not that it really worked. Roman managed to steer them into the elevator and finally Dean and Seth relaxed.

“I swear to god, if someone sees me dressed up they’re gonna call the cops, nobody would recognise me” Dean joked, his free hand sliding under his collar. Roman laughed and let go of Seth to pull Dean close for a slightly sideways hug, ruffling a hand through the other man’s hair.

“You look like yourself, mostly” Roman said quietly as he let go. The elevator came to a stop and he stepped out to let the other two out.

Seth hauled Dean with him who seemed to have some more life in him. He kept up with Seth’s excited jog to the room with ease, casting looks back at Roman who was engrossed in something on his phone. Seth fumbled for his wallet, pulling out his hotel key card to open the door. The room was relatively the same as the one Finn and Dean were staying in, apart from the clear evidence of Seth and Roman in the gym bags and suitcases thrown on the chair in the corner. 

Dean ambled over to the sofa and threw himself down on it while Seth threw his jacket down on the bed. Roman yawned and sat down beside Dean and the auburn man took the opportunity to curl up against his body.

“You guys want anything?” Seth asked as he checked out the minibar. There was a general no consensus from the couch but he was feeling like a drink. He pulled a bottle of water out, tossing it in the direction of the two snugged up on the couch. He sniggered to himself as it hit off the side of Roman’s arm, a swear escaping Roman’s lips. 

“Fuck, Seth, give me warning!” Roman rolled his eyes. He picked up the water, rolling it between his hands. Seth threw himself down onto the couch beside the two, blowing a kiss at Roman before snatching the water back from him. He took a swig, nestling closer to Roman’s body.

Dean was starting to get nervous again. He was in their room, curled up with them on the couch, and somehow they weren’t having sex yet. That wasn’t how nights like this usually went for him. Maybe he’d misread the situation, perhaps they were just genuinely going out as friends. He tucked his legs up on the couch, humming to himself, trying not to think about the thoughts running through his head.

“You okay, Deano?” Roman asked, stroking a hand down Dean’s arm. Dean nodded, sitting up straighter to smile upwards at the other man “Seth?”

“I am fantastic, Big Dog” Seth answered with a laugh. Roman nodded and settled back.

Dean reached for the remote to turn on the tv but Roman stopped him. His stomach started to fill with butterflies as Roman’s hand closed around his wrist. Dean smiled hopefully. 

“I… can we talk?” Roman sounded nervous to both Dean and Seth who exchanged looks over the top of Roman. Seth nodded to Dean.

“Yeah sure, of course man, I mean Finn’s not expecting me back for a bit” 

Roman nodded and shut his eyes. He’d been running the way he was going to word the whole thing through his head all day and now it was go time. He knotted a hand into Seth’s hair as a comfort to himself and pressed his other hand onto Dean’s thigh. 

“Look, I’ve been thinking…”

“Dangerous thing, Ro” Dean cut in with a smirk, making Seth snigger. Roman permitted himself a smile, patting his hand on his leg. 

“Yeah I know; I’ve been told” He shook his head to get himself back on track “I know that you’ll both probably think I’m completely crazy”

“I do, and often” Seth murmured quietly, making Dean laugh in return. Roman took a deep even breath. 

“I’ve been talking with Finn and he’s been helping me figure out some things about… well… about us” Dean’s stomach contracted and for a second he felt sick. Looked like it was the end of the line and Roman was just trying to be sweet about it. He snuck his hand under his collar. He’d listen to Roman’s ‘I think we should go our separate ways’ talk then go back to his room and attempt to convince Finn to go out for that drink he’d suggested. Maybe he could do something stupid and get fired and never have to see Rollins or Reigns again. He sighed. His internal monologue was getting out of hand and he forced himself to tune back into Roman “… and I guess that I just don’t want to lose this but… I think we could… maybe make this work together”

Dean frowned. He’d missed more of the speech than he probably should have. Fortunately, Seth had actually been listening, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at Roman, who looked far more sheepish than he usually did.

“So, what you’re saying is-“

“-I want to date both of you”

Dean choked, practically doubling over with a coughing fit. That was not what he had planned for. Roman was immediately stroking his back gently and it took all of Dean’s willpower to wave him off as he got it under control.

“Sorry, I zoned out and uh… when I tuned back in you were proposing a three-way relationship?” Dean muttered as he straightened up. Roman smiled and nodded hopefully making Dean do a double take “You mean I didn’t miss the point complete-”

“Yes Roman, that’s… Jesus Christ yeah of course” Seth was speaking over the top of Dean in a rush of excitement. His smile was wide, showcasing the tiny gap that both Dean and Roman found perfectly endearing. Roman’s own face split open in a grin as he wrapped Seth up in a tight hug, pressing his face into Seth’s neck. 

Dean sat on the edge of the sofa with a million thoughts running through his mind. His face was painted with a mixture of anxiety and indecision as he stared at Roman’s back. Seth lifted his head to look at the auburn haired man, watching the conflict was over him like an endless wave.

“Dean?” Seth asked softly, extracting himself from Roman.

The man shook his head slowly in response.

“I… I cant”

*

Dean was quiet and almost oblivious to the stares of the other two men. He had his eyes cast down at the ground, his fingers tapping on his thigh irregularly. Roman gently placed a hand on the small of his back and Dean flinched, shying away into the corner.

“Look, thanks for… everything but I’m just gonna… go back to my room” he said quietly, standing up off the couch. Roman caught his hand tightly, his eyes fixed the back of Dean’s hand, tugging him back towards the two “Roman, please... let me go”

Seth reached for his hand too, pulling him with more insistence back.

“You don’t have to Deano but at least tell us why” Roman’s tone was soft enough to break Dean’s heart. He slipped his hand away from the other two’s grip, folding his arms defensively over his chest. He didn’t move though, much to Roman and Seth’s relief. Instead he took up the posture of a caged animal, buzzing with nervous energy. He trusted them both, irrationally so.

“I just- can’t you- I don’t know how- I need a fucking smoke break” Dean rambled. He shut his eyes trying to collect his thoughts.

“Take your time, babe” Through his haze of swirling thoughts he wasn’t sure who it was that talked. He just knew it made him spill his guts.

“I don’t know how to be in a relationship unless I’m drunk or messed up on something, it’s always been the same, alright, I don’t think I can change” Dean ran a shaking hand through his hair “’S no big deal, really, just my last… boyfriend was really… I don’t wanna put it on you, I just don’t think you’ll want to deal with me, okay?”

He rocked back and forward on his heels in time with his fluttering heartbeat. 

“It’s okay, Deano” Roman gently reached for Dean and Dean let himself be manipulated onto the couch in between Seth and Roman “Hey, no, sweetheart it’s okay” He felt a hand wipe at his eyes. Dean didn’t even know he’d been crying “We want to have you Dean, at your best or at you worst, you’re perfect and if you need time…”

“Take all the time you need” Seth finished. Soft lips pressed against his cheek and he felt himself being pulled tightly against the two.

“Yeah… I’ll… think about it”


	18. Chapter 18

“Dean, are you even listening?” Sami questioned, propping himself up onto his side to watch Dean as he stared at the ceiling.

“Honestly? No.” Dean answered, making Finn and Sami laugh “I tuned out around the time you started talking about the vegan, gluten free, fun free cookies”7

He sat up cross legged on the bed and looked down at the other two who were attempting to build some Lego set Finn had picked up. It was surprisingly big build that Dean was sure he was going to enjoy breaking part for the two later. Sami was attempting to decode the instructions in between his excited chatter (He never shut up, a trait that Dean could definitely understand).  
“Kevin said they tasted nice” Sami hit back with a slight pout. 

“Kevin will say anything to make you happy, Zayney-babe” Finn said almost dismissively as he attempted to connect a big knobbly lump of Lego to the base-plate. Dean couldn’t actually tell what it was meant to be and from his vantage point on the bed, he couldn’t even see the box lid. Finn sat back with a slight gin “Besides, you know why he’s not listening”  
Sami blinked a few times before nodding. He smiled conspiratorially “Oh… right gotcha, the date”

Dean let out a huff of breath through his nose before rolling onto his side away from the two. Finn coughed slightly and muttered something under his breath that Dean couldn’t quite catch. Of course he’d told Finn all the details when he’d got back, but Sami had only showed up to help build whatever they were building while Kevin was doing something important that he wouldn’t tell Sami about. 

He didn’t want to be having the conversation he knew would be coming because, well, Sami could never resist poking at a bruise. Not in a bad way, while Kevin would distract, people like Sami or even Finn rooted around to find what the cause was. He’d already been psychoanalysed by Finn over his choice of breakfast this morning (Toast: dry, and Water: wet) and he wasn’t in the mood for Sami to give it his best go.

“Dean?”

“Just ask Bálor, Zayn, I don’t want your sympathy unless it’s coming with a 6 pack of beers or a pack of cigarettes”

He could have heard Finn’s sigh from the next city over. 

“How much can I tell him?”

“Everything, if he wants to hear it” Dean rolled over to look at Sami who swallowed almost guiltily He turned his attention to Finn who was trying to attach another block to his build “I’m not about to hide anything that happened to me anymore, like… you guys know far more about my life than is probably healthy”

Finn looked up and shrugged “Dean’s ex? Massive asshole, without going into detail, manipulative dick” He stated firmly. Dean nodded along his assent. Finn was right “Dean is now, for all intents and purposes, scared of relationships”

“Totally understandable” Sami broke in quickly, looking up at Dean with a dreadfully sympathetic look “I’ve seen some guys who would have put me off Kevin if he hadn’t been so perfectly Kevin, god… you know once Kev-”

Sami got a slightly love-struck look, smiling dreamily. Finn hit him with his foot.

“Hey lover boy, story isn’t over”

Sami gave an embarrassed chuckle, shifting. Dean gave a short sniff and swung his legs off the bed and sinking down onto the floor beside the two. The fact he didn’t know what they were building was annoying him.

“He used to fuck about with my emotions when I was… drunk or high, don’t give me that look, I… he was an asshole” Dean reached for the box to study the picture. It was meant to be a shop, or at least that’s what Dean assumed it was “Well, Roman got it into his head that he could date two people at once because a certain idiot -Not naming names… Finn- told him he could and I said no, because I’m an idiot who can’t have a relationship because I’m so fucked - “

“Dean!” 

“Sorry” He put the box down and sat back on his legs, staring the other two down.

“You’re many things, Ambrose” Sami said firmly, reaching out to pat his thigh softly and Dean for a moment had to fight the urge to flinch away “You’re many things but you’re not fucked”

“Thanks, Samster”

“Dean, I’m gonna kick your whole ass, va chier”

“So Finn can call you Zayney-ass or whatever but as soon as-“

Sami threw the empty box at Dean with a weak ‘thud’, too busy doubled over in laughter. Dean relaxed slightly. This was much better. Somehow Finn convinced him to help them continue building and he spent the rest of his afternoon trying to click tiny bricks together. It was a welcome distraction to be with Sami and Finn just messing about together. The shop was only half finished when an extremely tired but satisfied looking Kevin bowled through the door with a coffee in one hand and a bag full to bursting with groceries in the other.

Dean and Finn exchanged a look as Kevin dropped down onto the bed behind Dean, grinning ear to ear.

“Sami’s making cookies for tomorrow!”

Dean groaned as Kevin started to run off praise about Sami’s baking skills. It was going to be a long afternoon.

*

Dean caught the can of beer Finn had flung at him with one hand without looking up from his phone. He looked up with a faked grumpy look when he heard applause from Kevin.

“Yeah, I have hand-eye coordination Kev” He pouted before cracking it open and taking a sip. Kevin’s reproachful look was enough to send him into hysterics, snorting beer up his nose painfully “Kidding, big boy, holy shit that was a look, Sami fix your boyfriend’s face”

Kevin turned scarlet, muttering something about needing air as he scrambled to his feet and out towards the balcony. Sami sighed and got up to follow him out, pulling an apologetic look at Dean. Through the glass doors, they could see Sami throw an arm around Kevin and whisper something to him. Dean had never been good at lip-reading and returned to his beer with a resigned sigh. 

“They’re not technically dating you know?” Finn said, tilting his head back to take a drink of his own beer as he sat down on the couch. Dean looked up and shook his head with a confused sound, glancing at the two practically entwined together on the balcony. Finn followed his gaze, laughing when he noticed the source of Dean’s confusion “Yeah, I know, but apparently Kevin doesn’t do labels and Sami is cool with that I guess… Or he just says he is”

“They’re cute together though, Kev should put a ring on Sami before someone else does” 

Finn nodded, making a sound of agreement “Like we haven’t said that before! Seth has literally written a script for Sami to ask Kevin out before”

“Was it any good?” Dean asked interestedly. Finn rolled his eyes and stretched out, staring at the two outside with a faint smile on his face “Not the point?”

“Nah, not the point fella”

They lapsed into silence together, letting the music Sami had put on wash over them. It was some rock nonsense Dean had never heard before but he had a feeling it was probably right up Seth’s alley. He made a mental note to ask about it when he actually had the guts to talk to Seth again. He’d pretty much escaped into the night after Roman and Seth had fallen asleep. It felt awkward to even think about how he’d probably ruined what could have been a good night.

Finn noticed Dean getting drawn into his head and flicked his upper arm.

“I have a question for ya, Dean”

“Mhm?”

“How long are you going to avoid Rollins and Reigns for?”

Dean groaned, shoving his face into his free hand. Finn really wasn’t going to let it drop. He’d thought that perhaps Sami and Kevin’s distraction had maybe pushed it out of his mind but clearly he’d thought wrong. 

“Till hell freezes over Finn, sweetheart” 

“Or….” Sami popped his head through the glass sliding doors, his hands shaking his best jazz hands “You realise that our boys Seth and Roman really care about you and love you and will wait forever for you! Come on, Ambrosey! To paraphrase an early philosopher, they’re never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna-“

He was dragged out of the doorway by Kevin who was motioning to something off the balcony.

“Did Sami just quote Rick Astley?” Dean asked, turning to stare at Finn with a slightly confused look.

“Jesus wept, He called him an early philosopher”

*

Dean was starting to believe that fate was really fucking with him. Room allocations had landed him with Roman one night then Seth the next.

With Roman it was simple, curl up on the couch and ignore the burn of the welts on his back after a couple of particularly hard hits with a chair. Roman insisted on a massage, trying to get the tension out of Dean’s back but it wasn’t that hard really.

Seth was the harder case. He’d had to haul him up a flight of stairs into a shitty motel room with Xavier Woods and tuck him into bed. Woods had managed to miss time something when Dean wasn’t watching and practically concussed Seth. Seth in all his passion of the Christ glory had said it was entirely his own fault rather than Xavier’s. Dean was pretty sure it was both of their faults. Shit happened, he wasn’t blaming anyone.

He did however make Xavier help him get Seth to the motel. Roman and everyone else Dean counted as mildly helpful were heading to a different motel. Someone had messed up the allocations with rooms so there were only a few people around them from the company. 

“Sorry, Seth” Xavier muttered as he helped dump the man down on a bed. Dean pulled a face as Seth gave him a dumb goofy smile.

“It was an accident, it’s all good” Seth answered and Xavier rolled his eyes. Woods clapped Dean on the back before escaping out the door, leaving Dean to get the asshole comfortable. Seth was being purposefully unhelpful as Dean fought with him to get him undressed “Deeeeeaaaannnn, call Romaaaaaaannnn”

Dean tugged Seth’s shirt off of his body, mercifully without glancing down at the bare skin of Seth’s chest, throwing it on top of his suitcase before trying to find something that Seth would probably wear to bed. He’d left Seth’s suitcase in the car. There was no way he was going to drag that and the purposefully dead-weight Rollins upstairs. He found one of his shirts that was 3 sizes too big for either of them and threw it at Seth.

“Put that on and take your dumb skinny jeans off and I’ll phone Roman for you, okay?”

He was trying to reason with the childish version of Seth that was pouting on the bed. It was going to kill him. Seth was adorable, annoying, but adorable. 

It did work, however. Seth pulled on Dean’s shirt (Old merch from the indies that had definitely been washed about twice) and wiggled out of his jeans. He sat cross legged on the bed, watching Dean with big eyes as he fumbled with his phone. He managed to work out how to video call Roman and sat down next to Seth.

It rung twice before Roman picked up. His hair was swept up off his face and he wasn’t wearing a shirt as he sat on a bed. Dean could pick up the sound of Finn crooning in the background.

“Dean? How’s Seth?”

“He’s here, wants to talk to you”

“Oh?”

Seth grabbed the phone from Dean, pulling Dean along with him to nestle at the top of the bed while he talked to Roman. Dean frowned.

Seth was playing the whole accident up.

Dean didn’t mind one bit.

*

Finn stared Dean down as he paced the room of the hotel. Dean had found a flipchart from god knows where and was gesturing vaguely at it as he talked. The word ‘PLANZ’ was scrawled at the top in a bright pink marker that Dean had stolen- No borrowed- from Tyler Breeze earlier in the day. Sami was just as confused.

“Dean, I don’t- does that say Sami’s mixtape?” Sami asked with a laugh, interrupting Dean’s flow. Dean stopped and stared at him. Sami’s confusion hit extreme levels “I… I don’t have a mixtape”

“Sure you do, on that Spotify thing”

“That’s a playlist, Deano” Finn informed as he stood up to look at the chart “Hey, who said I’d buy roses?”

“Me! Shut up! Yes, Sami, can you like… make me a playlist like… soppy love songs but not soppy and preferably rock and maybe not even love just… nice?” Dean was in full flow. He ticked off the section that said ‘Sami’s Mixtape’ before pointing to the ‘Finn’s décor – Roses n shit’. Dean looked at Finn who was chewing his lip “Please Finn, you’re like… the artiest person I know, and I just need something nice to spruce up the room”

Finn nodded and grabbed the marker to tick the section off.

“Yeah, we got you”

“Do you think Kevin would help convince Seth and Roman to come?”

Sami laughed.

“Kevin has never missed a chance to annoy Seth, Dean, he’s in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I really had a bit of a... time deciding whether or not to continue this after Roman's announcement. The wind was really taken out my sails but then I remembered that I've loved writing each and every minute of this and I'm really close to the end. I honestly have enjoyed writing each and every bit of this chapter and I can't wait to finish this off!


	19. Chapter 19

Sami traded his favourite hat to Becky for the night for the use of her Bluetooth speakers. He was beginning to regret not asking her how to use them as he sat squatted in front of the plug socket, turning it over in his hands. Behind him, Finn was stressed over the flower arrangement he’d conjured from somewhere. He’d done the best job possible with the admittedly trashy looking motel look he and Dean were sharing.

Suddenly, melodic strums of some acoustic song Sami had picked rung out around the room and Sami gave a triumphant shout. Finn started in surprise, his finger nicking one of the thorns on the stem of a rose.

“Oh, for fuck sake- Sami!”

“Sorry!”

Finn sighed to himself and stepped back from what he was doing, shoving his finger in his mouth.

“S’looking good though!”

“I know I look amazing Sami, but I have eyes for another, I’m so sorry” Dean called from the doorway to the bathroom. He was wearing his best polo and jeans, and had somehow managed to reign his hair in. Finn mock wolf-whistled at the sight as Dean grinned.

“I despise you” Sami teased, rolling his eyes. He gave Dean a critical glance over, before nodding to the speaker “That should be good for the night, I set you up a playlist of all the songs I’d use if I ever had to… if I ever needed a date playlist”

“Oh my god, just say you’d make out with Kevin to them, It’s not that deep! We all know!” Finn cut in. Sami turned bright red and Dean could do nothing but laugh as the ginger floundered.

“Yeah… I guess you’re… yeah”

Finn threw his hands in the air victoriously “Fucking finally!”

Dean chucked to himself. At least if it all went wrong, Sami and Kevin would be happy. Dean liked that idea. He glanced around the room, looking at all the hard work Finn and Sami had done for him. For him. Dean couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done anything for him just because. He could feel the swell of emotions growing in his stomach like a golden warmth and he fought it back. He was not going to cry over Finn’s flower arranging skills or Sami’s song choice.

“Thank you” He said softly. His voice cracked.

Finn was immediately pulling him into a bone-crushing hug that threatened to push all the air out of his lungs. Then Sami, who practically threw himself over the couch to join the hug, pressed his face right up into Dean’s shoulder so tightly he was sure he’d have a nose based imprint for weeks. Dean didn’t particularly mind about it though, they were his friends after all.  
He was definitely crying.

“Sami… Sami?”

“Yeah, Dean?”

“Can you please ask Kevin to be your fucking boyfriend?”

“Only if you bag yourself a Roman and Seth!”

“Deal.”

Finn finally let go of Dean, mock-dabbing at his eyes with the edge of his shirt. He’d never felt more like a proud mother as he looked at the two idiots he was proud to call some his best friends. He’d recall the day in the future as ‘The Sambrose Treaty’, which both Dean and Sami would argue was the worst words to ever come out of his mouth. From his pocket, his phone buzzed.

He tugged it out to check his texts, looking up at the two with a grin.

“They’re coming!”

“Let’s split!”

*

Sami and Finn slipped out of the door, practically walking straight into Seth and Roman who were being wrangled towards the room by Kevin. His eyes lit up when he saw Sami, giving Seth a pat on the back that made Seth stumble forward slightly.

“See you later Rollins, Reigns!” He said brightly as he shifted towards Sami to wrap his arm around his shoulders. Sami practically melted against Kevin with a blissful smile that Finn caught out of the corner of his eye. The three pushed past a confused looking Roman and Seth, heading in the opposite direction.

“Kev- I thought… Finn?” Seth frowned, pulling a face.

“Go right in! Have yourself some fun, fellas!” Finn called in response, waving a hand before disappearing around the corner with the other two. Roman and Seth shared a look between them. A soft acoustic song was drifting out of the slightly ajar door. There was the smell of food too, winding its way through the air.

“What do we do?”

“We go in” Roman answered steadily. He put a hand on Seth’s shoulder and steered him towards the door. For a minute they stood awkwardly at the door before it was pulled open.

Dean looked at the two men, a smile splitting his features wide. Seth and Roman looked back in confusion. The other man stepped out of the way and gestured for them to come in. Seth frowned before practically falling through the door as Roman nudged him inside. Dean caught him, however, his hand outstretched to cover Seth’s stomach, pushing him upright. Seth murmured an apology before looking up.

Fairy lights wove around the curtain rail that was above the sliding glass doors that opened out onto the mini balcony. The curtains were wide open to show off the sunset just burning down over the back of the buildings behind the motel, the light from that dappling the room a fiery orange. The table had been shifted to in front of the doors, a huge flower arrangement dominating the centre. Someone (Seth assumed Dean) had made a pasta bake that had been… somewhat carefully put onto plates. It didn’t look anything like the motel room Seth and Roman had hauled up in. Someone had tried to make the place presentable.

“Uh… so… uh… I made pasta” Dean stuttered, reaching up to rub a hand across the back of his neck as he made his way towards the table, pushing out two chairs for Roman and Seth before moving to his own. He looked expectantly at the other two as they approached, letting out an inner sigh of relief as they sat down “You don’t have to eat it if it’s bad I have like 3 pizza places on speed dial just in case-“

“Dean.” Roman said lowly. His voice rumbled its way up Dean’s spine. Beside him, Seth shovelled a forkful of pasta into his mouth, his eyes shutting briefly as he chewed.

“Yeah?”

“It’s fucking amazing, Dean” Seth said quietly after swallowing. He opened his eyes again, glancing at Roman before turning his eyes back to Dean who was turning redder and redder with every second.

“This is all amazing, Dean” Roman confirmed, reaching out a hand to pat Dean’s. Ambrose seemed to glow with pride, sitting a little straighter in the chair as his confidence grew.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m awesome, now let’s eat!”

Seth wasn’t lying when he said Dean’s food was amazing. Dean had poured his heart and soul into making this nice for some reason. Seth couldn’t quite figure out why, after all, Dean had been avoiding them since… well since Roman’s attempt to make things work. Which was fair. Totally.

Since then, Roman and Seth had been teetering on the edge of making it a somewhat official relationship. They slept together, ate together, shared soft kisses in quiet moments and practically never left each other’s sides. But there was still Dean. It hurt in a way Seth had never experienced before. He wanted Dean to be loved and to love but… well… Dean wasn’t ready, he supposed. 

Roman had assured him that Dean could take all the time in the world but that it didn’t matter, he had Seth, he would have Seth for as long as he could. And Dean could do what he needed to. Take his time. Hell, Roman wouldn’t mind a straight up no. He understood now, got why Dean had reacted so when he’d asked him to stay that night they were drunk, understood why he either fought or tried to negate a situation before it happened. Still though, Roman couldn’t help but keep wistfully glancing in Ambrose’s direction everytime he hurried past them with someone else. 

Roman blinked, Dean’s laughter drawing him back into the conversation. Seth was smiling his best wide smile and Dean was shaking with laughter. Roman knocked back his beer. He was reminded sharply of how handsome the two men across from him were. They were framed in the red of the sun, looking at each other with complete adoration. He would give anything for this moment to be his forever.

“So then Finn- Holy fuck, Dean- Finn and Roman got locked in the bathroom of this motel when they were trying to wash their hair in the fucking sink because the shower was broke and I got a text like 2 hours later-“

“2 hours later!”

“Yes! Two hours later like ‘Seth you need to come help us’! They honestly thought they could get out by themselves and refused to call me!”

Roman groaned and threw his head in his hands half in embarrassment and half to hide the smile growing on his face as Seth recounted the worst day in recent memory for Finn and himself. The door to the bathroom had jammed shut and with Seth out, Finn and himself had resigned themselves to playing tick tack toe on the fogged up mirror until Seth arrived. It was only when Finn started to complain about needing to piss in private that they gave in to text Seth.

“Was Finn’s fault! He wouldn’t let me ram the door” Roman combatted as he raised his head. Dean and Seth rolled their eyes in unison, giggling to themselves.

“And have you put your shoulder out, Big Dog? No thanks!” Dean patted Roman’s shoulder. His hand seemed to linger there a second too long before pulling away. Roman’s mind immediately fixated on it.

Dean however, swept the plates up, carrying them to the sink before going rooting through the tiny freezer compartment of the definitely faulty fridge. He whipped out the ice cream just as the playlist changed song, another love ballad chosen by Sami. It had a nice beat that Dean found himself humming to as he scooped ice cream into the plastic bowls Finn had bought for him to match the plastic plates he’d bought himself. Finn had insisted that he couldn’t have a nice date night without ice cream.

Mint choc chip. Just like what he’d bought Seth, what felt like years ago, after his panic attack.

It was a weird, half-bad half-good wave of nostalgia that coursed through him. Sure… it wasn’t the best memory to stick out, but it was the one where he’d actually first helped do something good for Seth and Roman. Even if events hadn’t exactly gone up from there.

As he placed down the bowls, Seth looked up at him with a small smile playing on his features. He got it. Roman got it to, it seemed, as he almost laughed when he saw it. A small gesture but it was the best Dean could do. 

Seth picked at it with his spoon, his attention divided between the other two men as they talked together. He still couldn’t believe that this, whatever this was, was going so well.

“Dean?”

“What’s up, Sweetheart?”

Seth had never realised how right that word felt coming from Dean’s mouth. It felt like…home, like when Roman would call him babe and tuck him against his chest. It sounded the way Kevin’s ‘mon cher’ to Sami sounded, warm and promising hope. What if that was the way Dean meant it? He shook his head. It wasn’t time to think about ‘what ifs’.

“Dean, why are you doing all this?”

The question hung in the air. Roman’s eyes turned to fix on Dean who had just shoved a mountain of ice cream into his mouth. He looked bewildered as he swallowed, unable to keep his eyes trained on one spot. His hand rose up to tap at his collarbone.

Restless energy. Worry. 

Roman immediately took Dean’s hand in his own, tracing patterns onto the back of his hand. The nervousness seemed to remain however as Dean dragged his hand away to sit on it.  
It was now or never.

“I’ve been thinking a lot, well… more like Sami and Finn made me think really! Which I didn’t think was their forte but here I am, about to do something probably really dumb!”

Seth opened his mouth to say something, but Roman hushed him, reaching under the table for his hand. It enveloped Seth’s, squeezing gently. 

“God, so, I’ve been thinking about what you said Roman… about the uh… relationship I guess!” He shut his eyes, his mouth more than glad to run on without his mind in tow “Relationships, huh? Weird, never been my realm of comfort but seasons change!”

The music behind him had swollen to an uplifting chorus, the lead singer’s voice drowned out by soft harmonies running over it like water. Dean’s voice was just another addition to this, his quick almost gravelly voice adding new tones on top of the song.

“What I’m saying is, not very well though, is that I’ve reconsidered your offer.”

The music cut as it transitioned into the next song, the bass line steadily thrumming through Dean’s head as he opened his eyes to gaze at the two men. One last time where everything was perfect before everything went wrong. He shook his head as he looked at the two in front of him to chide his inner monologue. No, one last time before everything changed. For better or for worse.

“I’d like… I’m ready… I do want this” He paused and gestured at the two men with big eyes “I want us to have a relationship and I think I’m ready for it now, I’m sure I’m ready for it now.”

He finished his rambling speech. Roman and Seth sat, lost for words and clinging to each other’s hands. Dean could feel disappointment and embarrassment welling up on his cheeks. What if Roman and Seth didn’t want him? What if they didn’t want a broken man? What if they were just being nice when they offered him the first time? God, that would be just like fate, wouldn’t it? To hand something to Dean Ambrose then snatch it away, time and time again. It was inevitable that he-

His thoughts were cut off by Roman, pulling him forward by the shirt to kiss him, Dean freezing against him as the soft lips that could practically melt his heart met his in a kiss nothing short of perfect. A hand stroked through his hair, resting on his neck as Roman pulled away. Then there was Seth, all glorious giggles and pouty lips against him, tugging him up to meet him in in a kiss he couldn’t believe was real. He half stood at the table, leaning over to meet Seth while Roman kept them both steady with his hands.

Seth pulled away, eyes locked with Dean’s before moving to Roman. The two shared a soft kiss that made every inch of Dean ache with love.

“Is that… Is that a yes then?” Dean asked with a raspy chuckle. Roman fixed him with a look that was enough to make him burst into laughter.

“What do you think, Dean?”

“Uhhhh, that’s 100 on yes?”

“Dean Ambrose, you’re lucky we love you”

*

Dean wasn’t sure how they’d ended up tangled on the bed. He just knew that his lips were red with kisses and his brain was short circuiting on how perfect Roman and Seth looked. He couldn’t even think about the hand on his or the sound of Roman’s heart under where he’d placed his head on his chest without erupting into stupid happy giggles. He felt like a love-struck teenager curled up beside them both. He shut his eyes to focus on the beat under his ear. Comforting.

Every now and again Seth would reach for Dean’s phone to change the song, mumbling about how the song sucked only to shake his head and put it down when Dean argued that this was their playlist. He didn’t mind it as much when Dean put it that way. Plus, Roman was humming along to the songs and that just made Seth’s heart melt. 

Roman bowed his head to kiss Dean’s forehead, watching the smile cross his face and his cheeks redden. He was wrong earlier about wanting to stay in the moment with the two laughing men, this one where the two lovers were curled up with him glowing with new promises and new love was much better. The sound of the door clicking open was only enough to make Dean open one eye.

Finn crept in like he was hoping he wouldn’t be seen, clearly avoiding looking at the three as he flopped down on his bed facing the wall.

“Finn?” Seth asked, his voice slightly rough from fending off sleep. Finn jumped, sitting up and looking over, trying not to make out too much in the gloom of the room. Seth sat up to hit the lights. Finn let out a sigh of relief when he realised he wasn’t going to have to face the uncomfortable reality of his three friends having sex.

“Sorry, just thought you’d be, eh, busy, a’ suppose?” He tried, rubbing his shoulder. Seth couldn’t contain his laughter which was enough to tip both Dean and Roman into hysterics “What? I can’t exactly stay with Sami an’ Kev’, just thought I’d come in here all quiet like”

“Sami and Kev?” Roman asked inquisitively when he caught his breath back. Finn nodded sagely, leaning his head on one hand.

“All my mates are getting together and I’m out here just trying tae get my feckin’ beauty sleep, canny do that with all that moan-”

“Too much detail!” Roman groaned, covering his eyes and pulling a face. Seth and Dean exchanged a look. Finn shrugged.

“My point stands. Don’t try any funny business while I’m getting 40 winks”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Finn!” Seth said indignantly before being pulled in for a vicious Dean kiss. Finn made a fake retching noise and threw himself back on the bed.

“Goodnight, ya lovesick eejits”

“Gnight Finn!” Roman, Seth and Dean called together. Seth hit the lights. Everything was dark. Everything was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, with one more (planned) chapter to go, I'm starting to get emotional about this fic. I've grown so much as a wrestling fan from away back when I started this to now and fallen in love with so many wrestlers and so many promotions. I also can't put into words how amazed I am with every comment and kudos that's ever been given to this: a dumb little fic that spawned out of a two line note in my phone. So yeah, i'm emotional and you know there'll be a big emotional one at the end of the whole thing but man, i'm just feeling it tonight.  
> Thank you for sticking with me <3


	20. Chapter 20

Waking up in Seth’s bed, in Seth’s house on their week off together still felt alien to Dean. He could hear Roman already in the shower. Seth however was not. He opened his eyes slowly to look at Seth who was stretched out over the top of him, head on his chest. Seth turned his up to look at Dean, giving him a lazy smile.

“G’morning princess” Dean chuckled, reaching down to run a hand through Seth’s hair. If Seth could have purred, he would have, pressing his head back into Dean’s hand. He gently tugged Seth up, catching him for a soft kiss. God, Dean loved sleepy mornings like this. Seth smiled and sat up, wriggling to sit up against the pillows.

“Roman?”

“Showering, well that or he’s abandoned us for the gym”

Seth laughed before moving to straddle Dean’s hips, leaning forward to kiss him.

“Shame”

Dean nearly choked.

Another plus of having two boyfriends was the sex. Of course. 

“Are you two really going to start without me?”

Roman stood at the bathroom door, a towel slung sinfully low on his hips with his still wet hair pulled up off of his face. Seth let out a soft ‘damn’ as he stared at the sight. Dean’s hands came up to rest on Seth’s hips, his finger’s digging into the soft fabric of his pyjamas. Roman stepped towards the bed, one hand still tight around the top of the towel. He ran a finger up Seth’s spine watching him shiver at the feeling.

“Thought you’d still be showering, we decided to get the party started early” Seth teased. Dean could see Roman’s slight eye roll, even from his position laying down. 

“Some of us don’t take 5 years in the shower, baby boy” Roman hit back, his voice dropping to a low growl. Seth’s eyes fluttered shut, his hips rolling forward against Dean’s who let out a reflexive groan. There were about 100 things Dean loved about his boyfriends but this just about topped the list. 

Roman’s hand trailed itself slowly down the centre of Seth’s back, dipping under the waistband of his pyjamas to squeeze Seth’s ass. Dean sat up under him to mouth kisses along his collar bone and down to his chest. He made eye contact with Roman who was ear-to-ear grinning.

“Having fun, Deano, babe?”

“God, like you wouldn’t believe.”

Dean rolled his hips up against Seth’s, feeling his bulge against his own. He traced his tongue down over one of Seth’s nipples, light enough to make Seth let out an annoyed whine.  
“Fuck, Dean- Roman!”

Seth practically jumped out of his skin as Roman tugged down his pyjama pants and pushed him forward, taking Dean with him. Dean huffed in annoyance at Roman, throwing him a middle finger as he edged up to kiss Seth. The rumble of laughter he heard was unbelievable.

“You make things so difficult, babe”

“Would you have me any other way?” Dean asked with a shit-eating grin as he peered over Seth’s shoulder. He was met by Roman, who kissed him tenderly, his eyes entirely focused on Sean’s hazy blues. The sound of at least 2 phones on the bedside table being knocked off by Roman as he groped for lube was enough to break the moment.

Seth collapsed in laughter on top of Dean, rolling off him to the side. Dean broke the kiss to snatch up the lube before it too fell on the floor with the rest of the mess Roman had made. Instead of handing it over, however, he pulled Seth into his lap, tugging his pants down the remainder of his calves. Seth knew what was coming as soon as he heard the snap of the lid and draped himself over Dean’s shoulder, pressing his face into the crook like a cat.

Dean’s fingers sunk into him one by one, leaving him breathless and longing as he worked every inch of him open. Roman took the opportunity to coo encouragement at Seth as he groaned and whined against Dean.

“You’re doing so well sweetheart, look at you, fuck you’re beautiful” He said lowly.

He was utterly transfixed by his boyfriends, the look of concentration on Dean’s features as he slowly eased Seth open and Seth’s sudden gasp and whine of “Right there, fuck” as Dean found his prostate. It practically tipped Seth over the edge, fucking himself on Dean’s fingers. Roman was sure he’d never seen anything as hot in his life.

Dean somehow got his pants off, his shirt half caught up between his stomach and Seth. Seth made a noise at the loss of Dean’s fingers, desperately pleading for more against Roman’s lips. Dean was more than happy to help.

He grabbed his hips, guiding him down to his cock, slowly pushing into him, eyes full of reverence as he watched Seth’s whole body move fluidly to meet his.

“Holy fuck” He breathed out.

“Holy fuck indeed” Roman agreed. 

Dean buried his head against Seth’s chest. It felt like heaven. Roman sat down beside them, mouthing kisses over Dean’s shoulder. Dean let out a sharp gasp as Roman’s teeth glanced off his skin. With a slight chuckle, Roman repeated the movement. Seth couldn’t get enough of the feeling of Dean’s skin against him. Every roll of his hips was more contact, more warmth, more Dean. It was the hands on his hips, pressuring him down and the nails biting into the skin, that drove him over the edge.

He ground down on Dean’s cock as he came. He could barely stay upright. Roman’s hands caught his sides, keeping him grounded.

“So good, sweetheart, you’re amazing” Dean said softly. He eased Seth off his lap, letting him collapse onto the bed in a tired but satisfied mess. Roman nuzzled across the base of Dean’s neck as he worked Dean’s shirt off. 

Dean was more than happy to end up on his hands and knees for Roman. It was also just the right angle for Seth to make out with him messily. He hissed as Roman pushed into him, Dean always complained about Roman’s constant prep, it felt good. Roman pressed all the way inside him, watching the way Dean’s back arched as he found a comfortable position.

“Roman if you don’t move now I’m going to fuck-“

Roman did move. He planted a firm hand on Dean’s back, shoving him down against the bed as he pulled all the way out.

“- Oh my god, fuck you for that” Dean spat, changing his sentence last minute as Roman held him there. He liked the weight of Roman’s hand pressing him down. Not that he’d admit it. Not to his face at least.

“Language, Dean” Seth mumbled sleepily, reaching up to cradle Dean’s face. Dean immediately softened, a smile curling up on his lips.

“So it’s fine for you to swear when you’re getting fucked, but not me?”

“I don’t swear at the good dick, I swear because of the good dick”

Roman laughed quietly from behind him before slowly entering him again. This time Dean was more than prepared for anything Roman would throw at him. Seconds later he was being fucked steadily into the mattress, the hand still holding him down. The moans spilling from his lips were more than enough for Roman. Dean looked perfect all the time, but under him was always the best in Roman’s opinion.

It didn’t take long for Dean, still reeling from Seth, to cum, his whole body arching up against Roman’s. Seth’s eyes went wide at the sight. They hadn’t really ever had sex outside of cramped hotel rooms in half darkness and this was much better.

Roman was thrusting faster into Dean’s twitching and whining form now but Seth knew what was coming. He noticed the change in speed straight away, the slight hitch in his breath as he ground down into Dean. It was unfamiliarly familiar; he’d been on the receiving end so many times.

“Dean?” Roman asked, his voice gravelly and low in Dean’s ear.

“Please”

Dean didn’t ask for much.

But Roman was more than happy to oblige. 

With a low growl he came inside Dean, watching as the other man practically mewled. Seth was awestruck. Slowly, Roman pulled out, leaving Dean to roll onto his back. Seth joined him, curling up in the crook of his arm.

“Showers boys?”

Dean caught Roman’s wrist and pulled him down onto to bed with them. He reflexively wrapped his arms around the two.

“10 more minutes?”

*

Dean loved to pad about in his underwear in the morning after his shower. He felt relaxed as he messed about with the frying pan. 

A face nuzzling softly against his neck made him smile. A still slightly damp and actually dressed Roman caught him for a kiss, sliding his phone into his hands.

“Finn’s video calling, babe”

“It’s like he doesn’t want rid of us for the weekend” Seth said loudly from behind them. He wound under Dean’s arm give them both a soft kiss on the cheek. He reached down to answer the phone for Dean, his face lighting up at the sight of their best friend “Finn! Knew you’d miss us!”

“Yeah, yeah, of course I would”

Dean set the phone up so they could all chatter to Finn while they went about their usual morning routine. Hell, Finn was even present on the breakfast table while they ate, shooting jealous remarks about missing Dean’s breakfasts while he sipped on a coffee at the other end of the call. Roman chuckled.

“You’ll have us all back soon enough, then you’ll be begging for us to go away again!” Roman shrugged, swirling his own coffee around in his mug.

“Maybe so, but you lot would do a world of good to break up triple helpings of Sami and Kevin I’m getting”

“Yeah, you need someone to stop those lovebirds” Seth grinned, his head leaning on one hand as he reached for his juice.

“Yeah well… somebody t’ take the edge off” On the other side of the screen Finn shifted slightly, a smile playing across his lips.

“Finn?” Roman asked suspiciously, leaning towards the phone.

“Nothin’, Big fella, Just thinking!”

By the time Finn hung up, they were up to speed with the drama of everyone in the company. It was nice to get away for a bit, but it was a reminder that all their friends, the people who they cared about were all out on the road in their own self-contained world. But, for the time being they were happy to be at home and just in love.

Roman was sure that the honeymoon period would never be over. Even as Dean wandered into the living room with two toothbrushes held aloft and a confused face, he was completely sure he’d always find them perfect. Even if Dean still couldn’t work out which toothbrush was his.

“Which one is-“

“The ragged looking green one that looks like the lawnmower attacked it” Roman groaned, looking up from the grocery list in his hand. He reached for a pen to scribble down ‘toothbrush’ in tiny crammed writing at the bottom. He stood up from the couch and kissed Dean’s forehead. Seth materialised beside them, gym bag in hand. He had CrossFit.

Dean was going to stay at home and watch movies. Working out could wait for when he wasn’t enjoying his time off. He threw himself on the couch to relax to a dumb horror movie Kevin had recommended. 

*

Roman navigated the aisles of the supermarket with the ease of someone who definitely had the floor plan mapped out already. He’d been a few times since he and Seth had become friends and he’d stayed at his when they were passing through, but the mass shop he’d had to go on two days earlier was enough to give him a complete layout. 

He’d arrived with Seth and Dean only to find that Seth did not in fact have a neighbour to buy him basics for when he came home, which Roman was pretty sure everyone did. According to Dean, who assured Roman his fridge was completely empty and all he had was ramen at home, it was not the usual. 

Well, it was either that or his boyfriends were just lazy.

Roman believed it was the latter.

He picked up extra bedding as well as a quilt and a few new pillows. He was pretty sure that Seth’s 2 guest rooms were completely empty apart from the actual mattresses. In fact, he’d never seen the inside the guest rooms really, considering he and Seth had always… shared the bed. Additionally, Roman was pretty shocked that Seth actually had 2 guest rooms. Though, one was mostly a home gym with a bed in it, it seemed. He made a mental note to put them at the bottom of the bags when he was packing. It was a surprise of course.

He was pleasantly surprised he still hadn’t let slip that Finn, Kevin and Sami were on their way to the house to Dean or Seth. In all honesty, he was surprised Sami and his big mouth hadn’t rattled it off during a call. He should probably give his friends more credit. Sami had managed to keep the fact that he and Kevin had actually started dating for a whole 3 weeks before anyone noticed. And that was only because he’d seen them full on make out with each other. Which, while not entirely out of the realm of Kevin and Sami’s friendship, was definitely assurance. Even if he did have to corner them with Finn. 

He stopped in front of the toothbrushes, deliberating for a second over whether to get Dean the same one he had or the really cute one with what Roman assumed was bigfoot on it. He decided to lift the bigfoot one. Maybe different toothbrushes all together would help Dean remember that the blue one was in fact Seth’s.

He stopped to pick up a few snacks for when the boys arrived. Of course Dean wouldn’t question the junk food, but Seth would. He mentally cursed his boyfriend’s attempt to get Dean to actually eat healthily. Cheat day would just have to come early, but he’d have to shove them at the back of a cupboard until he’d gotten at least Finn through the door.

He paid and headed back to the house, stowing away what needed to be stowed away before joining Dean on the couch. Dean curled up on his boyfriend, trying to catch him up to the plot of the movie.

Roman wasn’t entirely invested. Instead he shoved his face into the mess of his boyfriend’s hair and just listened to him babble on. 

Both Roman and Dean jumped an hour later when Seth thumped in from the gym. He joined them on the couch, snuggling up against Roman’s shoulder. He was worn out, more than happy to just lie with his boyfriends and relax.

They stayed tangled like that into the early evening when a knock at the door startled them all. It was Dean who unwound and headed to the door only to shout when he opened it.  
“Finn Bálor what the fuck are you doing here?”

Seth and Roman were on their feet immediately, heading to the door. Finn stood at the door with his suitcase at his feet.

"Alright, lads?”

“You’re here?” Seth asked, his face a picture of shock.

“There’s my boys! I brought vegan cupcakes!”

Another bright and cheery voice made them start. There was Sami and Kevin, dragging their suitcases up the path. Dean and Seth were thrown into confused silence by their appearance.  
“Jesus, I didn’t think we looked that bad” Kevin said rather incredulously. 

It was then another figure emerged out from the other side of the car parked in the drive. Seth, Dean and Roman shared a look as he walked up to join them.

“Uh, so, this is my boyfriend”

“Baron Corbin, uh… you’ve probably seen me around, I… Finn invited me because well, yeah we’re uh dating and this is kinda worse than meeting his parents, I have to say, like… you guys are… here”

“Finn! Talk. living room. now!” Seth said immediately, grabbing Finn and tugging him into the living room and out of earshot. Finn was trying to keep floods of laughter back, staring at Seth’s horrified face “Finn! First of all, why are you here? Second of all, Baron Corbin? He’s-“

“My boyfriend, Seth.” Finn finished for him. Seth stared at Finn who looked genuinely amused with Seth’s reaction.

“I was actually going to say werewolf…” Seth said quietly, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. 

“You’ve been listening to Dean too much” Finn couldn’t help but laugh “I’m here because this is where we ended up on the road and we missed you guys and I wanted you to meet… I really wanted you to hang out with Baron” 

Seth threw his hands around his best friend, pulling him into a tight hug against him.

“How long?”

“We’ve been dating for 3 months”

“Jesus Christ, how didn’t we know?”

“You were a bit caught up, plus I thought he’d be better not getting involved with all that shit”

“Wish that was me” Seth chucked. He let go of his friend and watched as Sami, Kevin and Baron were ushered into the living room by a confused Dean and smiling Roman. Roman was in his element already busying to make everyone comfy.

“I’ll take your stuff up to your rooms!” He chirped cheerfully.

“Your rooms?” Seth spluttered. A grin split Dean’s face “You knew?”

“What? I’m a busy man!”

*

Roman searched all over the area for a place that did vegan pizzas. Sami practically choked out Roman in a hug as a thank you. They all sprawled across the living room and Seth found he didn’t hate Baron as much as he thought he would. In fact, he didn’t hate him at all. 

Finn sat in his lap, laughing and joking. God, he was glowing. Baron too, he looked like he’d won a prize as he stared at the man in his lap. A surge of happiness for his best friend shot through him as he shoved a slice of pizza into his mouth. Finn had someone who he could trust just as much as he could trust Dean and Roman. Baron pressed a kiss to Finn’s temple, smiling dreamily down at the Irishman who was pulled from his deep conversation with Dean about leprechauns to smile up at the other man.

Sami and Kevin were similarly connected at the hip, though nothing had particularly changed in terms of them. There was more kissing than usual though. They had a full on deep discussion about the merits of Dean sprawled out over the top of Roman and Seth like a puppy, demanding constant hair ruffles and somehow not choking on food despite Roman’s repeated concerns.  
Sami’s cupcakes were the star attraction of the table surrounded by mountains of candy and chips. Seth had made a disapproving hum at the sight but had probably eaten just as much as Dean had.

Kevin and Dean reached a hand out in unison for another cupcake and Sami looked like the cat who got the cream.

“Thought you didn’t eat that, in Kevin’s words, ‘Vegan fuckery’?” Sami asked, grinning from ear to ear. Kevin groaned and pressed his face against Sami’s shoulder taking deep breaths. Dean stuck out his tongue.

“Seth’s making us eat healthy!” Dean argued before shoving the whole cake in his mouth in one fell swoop. He had to admit, Sami’s baking had got a lot better since the fun-free vegan cookies he’d made him try. Probably because these weren’t literally burn to a crisp. 

“I’m not making you do anything” Seth replied haughtily.

“Yeah, it’s a win-win situation for Dean” Roman cut in with a chuckle “If Dean keeps up for a week, Seth says he’ll wake him up with a b-“

“Roman!” Seth squeaked, pushing Dean from his lap and throwing his hand over Roman’s mouth. The others burst into laughter, doubled over and clutching at each other. Except Baron. He was bright red and looked like he was screaming internally. He coughed slightly, glancing around the room. 

“Finn, I’m gonna jump outside for two seconds” He said softly in Finn’s ear. He pushed his boyfriend off his lap, making him pout. 

“Baron!”

“Two seconds!” He assured him. He pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and Finn turned bright red. The other 5 men ‘oohed’ and ‘aaaahed’ at their friend which caused Finn to turn even redder. Baron stood up, towering over the mess of the others sprawled on the floor.

Dean rolled off the top of his boyfriends, sitting up.

“I’m coming! Smoke break!”

“Dean?” Roman said slowly, frowning. Dean waved him off, grabbing Baron and dragging him outside. Once they were out of earshot, Roman looked at Seth with a grimace “Dean stopped smoking.”

“Oh fer fucks sake, he’s going to interrogate him” Finn groaned. He threw his head in his hands. Sami patted his Irish friend’s shoulder gently.

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

*

“So, what are your intentions with my best friend, Mr Corbin?” Dean asked, leaning on the fence of the back porch, staring down a fidgeting Baron. He swallowed and looked upwards at the other man with a forced smile. Baron had come out for air and to shake the anxiety welling up in his guts. Dean Ambrose was not helping.   
“Only the best ones, Ambrose” 

“Dean.”

“Sorry” He said sharply, raising his eyebrows “Only the best ones, Dean”

“Good, good” He answered almost cheerily as if he hadn’t noticed the sarcasm dripping from his words. His eyes were still telling a different story. Dean tilted his head to one side “Tell me about Finn?”

“He’s your best friend, Ambrose, I don’t know what you want to-“

“Do it”

Dean folded his arms over his chest, drawing himself up to his full height. Still nowhere as tall as Baron, but he was trying his best. Baron seemed to mull over his words for a moment, staring at the other man. He could feel the protectiveness, the desperation to make sure that he wasn’t just here to mess with Finn. He supposed, going off of what scraps of information Finn had actually fed to him over the past few months when he actually got the chance to see him, that Dean would be the one out of all of them to question him the most.

“Finn is unbelievable, he’s funny, he’s smart, hes… god he’s so compassionate, Dean, he cares so much about you guys” Baron paused to gather his thoughts, full of Finn and the overwhelming feeling of love that came with him. It was stupid. It was good “He’s so fucking handsome, Dean, those eyes are spectacular and his body, holy fuck. But that’s not the whole reason I love him, Dean. He’s so… Finn, y’know? Like I don’t… I didn’t really have many friends because well I’m not really a social guy.”

“We all thought you were a werewolf” Dean supplied helpfully “Or at least… Me, Sami and Kev thought that”

Baron laughed then, genuinely laughed “Lone wolf”

“Yeah well, suck it up pup, you’re not lone anymore”

“What?”

“You have my blessing, go forth and multiply or whatever”

“1) Not his dad or a priest, so what blessing do I get? 2) Not biologically possible, Ambrose”

“It’s Dean, Baron” Baron smiled widely. It felt like Dean meant it this time and not just in the ‘Let’s start an argument’ way “And besides, I don’t want to be a godfather any time soon!”

“Godfather?”

“I’m always going to be first pick when you have kids!”

“I- No? It’s Roman and Sami all the way, get in line- We’re not even having kids, Dean!”

“I take it back, I respect that one of my wonderful amazing boyfriends and the annoyingly endearing ginger are your top picks, smart but so not fun” Dean raised his eyebrows “But really, are you trying to say that Finn wouldn’t be a great dad?”

“He would be- I’m… I’m not having this conversation with you, fucking hell”

It was then Dean broke, his laughter finally chipping through his façade. Baron looked astonished for a minute before joining in. Dean pulled his arms a little tighter around his body, staving off the cold.

“I don’t know about you, but I severely miss my boyfriends, wanna head back in?”

“Oh hell yes”

*

Dean threw himself down onto the bed beside Roman, letting the bigger man pull him against him. It was gone 2am, they’d stayed up talking with the guys until Kevin had legitimately fallen asleep on top of Sami who was only too happy to die that way. Luckily a shove from Finn woke him up and Sami and him headed off to bed. Baron and Finn followed, the small Irishman dragging the taller man in his wake.

Then they’d headed to bed. Or at least tried to.

Seth was sitting on the floor with his phone, apparently checking his emails. 

“Come to bed”

“10 minutes”

“Bed, Seth!”

“I said 10 minutes”

“Seth, listen to Roman!”

“I’m busy”

“Seth do not make me get you” Roman warned. Seth didn’t reply this time, his eyes not leaving the phone plugged into the wall in front of him.

Dean and Roman exchanged looks and a sigh. Dean shifted to let Roman out of bed, settling back against the pillows. Roman stepped onto the floor and took one look at Seth before gently easing the phone out of his hands. He was surprisingly unresisting, giving it up to Roman after barely a second. He placed the phone down with a slight click on the bedside table before scooping Seth up into his arms like he was a baby and not an adult man. 

He dropped Seth in the middle of the bed before crawling in beside him, wrapping his arms around him. Seth made a noise at the back of his throat as Dean snuggled up against him, pressing his face into Seth’s chest.

“That’s much better, isn’t it, babe?” Roman asked softly. Seth half smiled before shrugging.

“S’nice, I suppose” Roman’s arms tensed around him and he couldn’t help but laugh “Kidding Ro’, more like perfect”

“What were you doing anyway?” Dean asked, his breath tickling across Seth’s bare chest. He shivered. 

“Trying to…” He yawned halfway through his words, closing his eyes “Trying to check when we can all be free for a bit again, I want to spend more than just the odd weekend at home, wherever that may be, I wanna do this all the time”

A warm feeling spread through Roman and Dean as their boyfriend talked. It felt like a future.

They each considered it in their own ways as they fell asleep.

Dean was happy. There was nothing more perfect than Seth and Roman being there every day for him and he was desperate for it in any way he could get. Whether they were in fancy hotels, old rundown motels or curled up like this in one of their places, he could be happy as long as they were there. It was like everything good had finally come for him. Karma had been saving all her golden stars for him. He had more than two great big dumb boyfriends, he had found a family. Finn, Sami, Kevin and well… he’d have to count Baron among them now. He hadn’t known friends who so deeply cared about each other in so long, they were his family. Dean could practically taste his forever now. It was so close, here in this bed with his two boyfriends with a glowing feeling of hope in his stomach.

All it would take for his perfect was half an hour in a dog rescue place and he’d have It all. He fell asleep thinking of dog names.

Roman could feel every inch of Seth against him and Dean’s arm dangling over his waist. It still felt so impossibly new, to be like this with his boyfriends, just feeling each other’s presence. He didn’t think he’d ever get over any of it actually. He flat out refused to let them go now, would do anything for them. It felt like it took forever, a building block of trust at a time, baby steps all the way to now, but at the same time it was so fast. He couldn’t imagine life without the two of them, hell he couldn’t even imagine how he’d coped with the friends-with-benefits situation with Seth in the first place. Roman wanted to cover them in love, make up for every second of lost time. He would go to the ends of the earth for his boyfriends, and he knew that they would do the same every time.

And Seth? Seth was complete, wedged between his boyfriends and surrounded by love. He had changed so much since he’d met Roman and then had grown even more since he’d met Dean. God, he thought he would hate Ambrose for the rest of his life but here he was in bed with him, pressing his face into the wild curls under his nose. He’d fallen in love with both men, fast and hard. He’d found he could depend on them far more than he’d originally thought. Roman pressed a kiss against the back of his neck and he could feel the smile growing on his face. This moment could last forever. But there were going to be a million other tomorrows that Seth would have to spend with them both. And he was glad to have them.

Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are. The end!
> 
> In the end, I couldn't resist the idea of Baron and Finn (Even if I had to toss up between him and Bayley for a good half hour) and I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Especially after all the drama I wrote into this.
> 
> It's.... it's been a wild ride from start to finish and if im going to be honest, its been hard but worth it. I've loved every second I've put into this and i cannot thank you guys enough for reading my nonsense. I cant believe that this all started from a silly little two line note in my phone and I'm thankful that I actually went on to write it.
> 
> So, I dont have much else to say but thank you for following me on this journey! I can't wait to write more.


End file.
